


Suggested Forms of Intimacy

by Akumeoi



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, Domestic Fluff, Fake/Pretend Relationship, First Kiss, Fluff, For Science!, Friends to Lovers, Literal Sleeping Together, M/M, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, every fluff trope known to man
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-18
Updated: 2018-02-18
Packaged: 2019-03-20 12:32:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 21,091
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13717749
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Akumeoi/pseuds/Akumeoi
Summary: Paid research opportunity - romantic couples study. Must be in a committed relationship of more than 6 months’ duration, and be over 18. Housing and a stipend will be provided through the Insomnia Science Foundation.In their senior year of college, Noctis and Prompto agree to participate in a scientific study run by three grad students in order to capitalise on a golden opportunity for housing. What could possibly go wrong?And will they get together fast, really fast, or really reallyreallyfast?





	1. Week One

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Yuneyn](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yuneyn/gifts).



> This fic killed me dead, but I hope that everyone enjoys it, especially you, lovely Yuneyn. :D
> 
> This fic was written as an official Valentine's exchange with Yuneyn. You should check out [the fic she wrote for me](http://archiveofourown.org/works/13603806) as well! Thank you, Yuneyn, for the awesome premise and inspiration for this fic.  
> Thank you to [Glittercracker](http://archiveofourown.org/users/glittercracker/pseuds/glittercracker), who read half of the first draft and gave me valuable suggestions.  
> And lastly, thank you to my best friend and roommate, E. Many of the experiences I've shared with you were invaluable in writing this fic. And they've made me a better person, too.
> 
> I based the course numbering and schedule on my own university. We have quarters, not semesters, so Noctis and Prompto will have 3 "semesters" their senior year: fall, winter, and spring. Our courses are numbered 0 - 100, with something like 99 being the highest possible course you can take. Hope this isn't confusing to anyone. To be clear, Noctis is studying video game design with a minor in environmental science. Prompto is double majoring in photo and design.

“Hey Prompto,” Noctis called from where he was sitting at the dining table of their new apartment, “About how many times a week would you say we hug?”

The bedroom door opened, and Prompto stuck his head out to give Noctis a mock disapproving glare. 

“Aren’t you supposed to be filling out the survey by yourself, dude?” he said. 

Noctis shrugged. “It’s just asking for a number. I don’t think the question is really that important.”

“Hmm,” Prompto said, thinking for a moment. “I think I put that we hug seven times a week. One for the times we fall asleep on each other by accident. Two for you asking me to cuddle. Three for regular hugs. And one more for me grabbing you because I get bored.”

“Thanks,” Noctis said. Grinning, he entered “7/wk” into the empty text box on the survey page. Prompto disappeared back into the bedroom to continue unpacking his suitcase.

For their senior year of college, Prompto and Noctis had landed a really sweet housing situation. While most of the other kids in their year had to vie for on-campus housing or pay egregious sums of money for an apartment in the surrounding city, the two of them were taking advantage of a research opportunity they had heard about through Ignis. Noctis’s bespectacled childhood friend was currently a grad student at the same university, and one of his grad student friends was attempting to do a psychological/sociological study on the effects of intimate routines on the development of romantic relationships. 

_Paid research opportunity - romantic couples study. Must be in a committed relationship of more than 6 months’ duration, and be over 18,_ the add had read. _Housing and a stipend will be provided through the Insomnia Science Foundation, in collaboration with the university._

All of that was just fancy grad-student speak for putting couples together in off-campus apartments and seeing how their relationships changed if they followed some rules set given to them by the designers of the study. Prompto and Noctis had jumped at the chance to get a furnished apartment that was close to campus, not to mention a _200$/wk stipend_ for fulfilling the requirements of the study. Being paid to live with his best friend seemed like a dream come true to Noctis. 

True, the house rules were kinda weird. But Noctis and Prompto had always been physically closer than the average pair of bros. Noctis couldn’t count the number of times he’d crashed in Prompto’s bed with him, or Prompto with him in his in freshman year, and even as roommates they’d fallen asleep on top of each other quite a few times. Sharing one queen-sized bed for a semester was going to be no big deal. Some of the other rules looked more annoying to follow, but no more annoying than sharing a two shower two toilet bathroom with eight other guys and getting hotboxed against his will by their inconsiderate neighbours in a grungy dorm somewhere. 

“Wait, come back!” Noctis called a moment later. Prompto stuck his head back out of the bedroom again. 

“Some of these questions are really weird,” Noctis said, gesturing at the laptop screen. “The next one is how many times a week we kiss.”

“We kiss twelve times per second. I’m faster than the speed of light. Blink and you’ll miss my lips,” Prompto joked, and Noctis rolled his eyes. “Just put zero, dude. They know we’re not dating. They just have to ask all the participants the same questions, I guess.”

“The next question is how sexually attracted I am to you,” Noctis said, raising his eyebrows. He was about to say - _Are you sure they know we’re not dating?_ \- because the grad students had assured them that best friend “couples” were sorely needed for the control group - when Prompto interrupted him with another joke.

“Well, I’m really hot, and you’re really gay, so I’d say it’s like at least a nine out of ten,” Prompto said, grinning from ear to ear. 

“I didn’t ask for your opinion,” Noctis said sarcastically, but he was smirking. Prompto gave a little _hmpf!_ and flounced back into the bedroom as Noctis shook his head in amusement. He rated his sexual attraction to Prompto as a five out of ten, which was probably an understatement, but he didn’t feel comfortable admitting to anything greater. 

Noctis was rarely sexually attracted to people. He’d had one long distance relationship in high school, with his online friend Lunafreya, who lived in Tenebrae. That had ended after three years when Noctis had figured out that he was gay. In college, Noctis had gone on exactly three dates and then bailed before the other guy even got a chance to kiss him. But if he was being honest with himself… there were moments he’d caught himself thinking that Prompto was pretty damn good looking. He hoped that was, like… normal, for friends as close as they were. Surely after having spent so much time together, they’d have learnt to appreciate each others’ good sides, right?

He was slightly curious as to what Prompto had put in answer to this question, but he couldn’t really foresee it being higher than a five on Prompto’s end either. Prompto had never shown any interest in hitting on him, and Prompto was very vocal about people he wanted to get with. His freshman and sophomore years of college had been riddled with an endless parade of dates which never quite seemed to pay off, though by the end of junior year he’d pretty much given up on dating. 

The rest of the questions in the survey were a lot less bizarre and inapplicable to Noctis’s life, thankfully. How much he loved Prompto (he rated that a 10, feeling a little embarrassed and glad that Prompto wasn’t reading over his shoulder), his eating and sleeping habits, his schedule for the semester, and other, more mundane things still. As Noctis was filling out the survey, he could hear Prompto humming to himself in the bedroom as he worked, and it made him smile. They hadn’t even been here a day and already the place was starting to feel like home. 

Prompto just brought home with him, that was all.

After he had finished the survey, Noctis stood, surveying the living area, which contained a couch, a coffee table, and a TV on a small wood unit in the corner. It was also currently full of half-opened boxes, and an absolutely enormous, plush brown beanbag belonging to Noctis. They had agreed to unpack those boxes later, and instead focus on the bedroom so they’d at least have a place to sleep and clothing for tomorrow.

Thinking that made Noctis realise he should probably go help Prompto in the bedroom. Leaving his laptop on the table, he headed down the hall. There was Prompto, in the bedroom, soft, surprisingly melodious voice audible through the half-open door as he hung photos on strings he had hung across the wall beside the door. The floor was currently hosting his open, half-emptied suitcase, with Noctis’s beside it. The wall on the other side of the door held an imposingly tall armoire, which Noctis suspected might just be two whitewashed chests of drawers stacked on top of each other. Dominating the far end of the room was a closet, white sliding doors pushed open wide to reveal a colourful assortment of clothes hangers. 

Prompto hadn’t bothered to open the blinds of the window on the wall above the bed, possibly because he wanted to test the string of white fairy lights he’d strung above it, which was currently turned off. Also possibly because sometime between putting up the fairy lights and now, the bed had become real estate for a miscellaneous hodge-podge of items, including a wooden spoon that belonged in the kitchen, a ball of plastic bags stuffed into other plastic bags, and Noctis’s favourite blanket, to name but a few items. 

After taking this all in, Noctis turned to Prompto and said, “Hey there.” Prompto’s singing cut off.

“Hey, it’s the slowpoke!” Prompto exclaimed. “I already put all your clothes in the drawers and some of your stuff in the closet. Wanna help me decorate?” Noctis noticed that in addition to having his hands full of photos, Prompto had also stuffed the pockets of his vest full of clothespins. And there was beef jerky still in the package sticking out of the back pocket of his jeans. 

“Shouldn’t we deal with this crap on the bed?” Noctis said, gesturing at it doubtfully. 

“You can if you want,” Prompto said, shrugging. “I gotta say, I got bored of it.” 

Because Noctis wanted them to have somewhere to sleep that night, he set about putting everything away. He’d gotten a lot more responsible and good at cleaning things since he’d first gotten to college, he reflected to himself as he found a home for the plastic bag full of plastic bags inside one of the kitchen closets. This place would probably look like a tip come midterms, but at least they could start the semester off right, instead of living out of unpacked suitcases like he had the winter of his freshman year. 

Several hours later, some semblance of order had been brought to the chaos. The bed had been made up with Noctis’s soft black sheets, the suitcases shoved into the still mostly-vacant study room, and the living room vacated of all but one box. The rest had been deconstructed and shoved into the closet of the study room, a re-purposed bedroom across the hall from the actual bedroom. That was the room that would need the most work - it was dusty, empty, and had no windows, so it altogether sucked in Noctis’s humble opinion.

At the moment, however, they were busy eating Chinese takeout at the dining table. School didn’t start until Monday, two days from then, but Prompto was already reviewing his schedule for the semester. 

“Advanced visual communication design and photo independent study with my favourite professor. And of course, my last lab science distrib is ecology 01 with you,” Prompto said, giving Noctis a high-five and then turning his laptop so Noctis could see his schedule up on Canvas even though he was sitting across from him. “Is that a perfect senior fall or what?”

“Ecology is gonna be awesome,” Noctis agreed, digging through his container of fried rice with his chopsticks to try and find any remaining bits of beef. “Gonna be dying from Computer Science 87, though.” He gave up and just shovelled a few bites of rice into his mouth as Prompto took his computer back and pulled a manila envelope out from underneath it. 

“You know what else we should go over?” he said, sliding a laminated sheet out of the envelope. 

“The rules of the study?” Noctis said around a mouthful of rice as he peered across the table. 

“That’s right,” Prompto said, snagging some orange chicken from the container beside him. “You wanna read it, dude? I haven’t eaten anything so far.”

“Too busy with your schedule,” Noctis said dryly as he slid the sheet towards him. There was a momentary silence as both of them ate and Noctis gave the page a preliminary scan. 

“Okay, there are five things we both have to do all the time, and then a list of stuff they suggest that we do throughout the week,” Noctis summarised. “The first thing is we have to eat dinner together as often as possible, and the second is to share the bed like a married couple would.”

“Check,” Prompto said around a mouthful of chicken.

“Yup. I want the window side,” Noctis said, and Prompto shrugged in agreement. “Next it says we have always greet each other when we leave to go somewhere or when we come back. I don’t see the point, but sure. We have to have what they’re calling a date night once a week. That’s what they’re giving us money for. Friday?”

Prompto nodded. “Friend date!”

“Yeah, friend dates. And the last thing is we have to keep a log of all the things we do on the list, as well as how the dates go and if there are any changes in our relationship when we’re living here.”

“Ugh, homework,” Prompto complained, setting his chopsticks down for a moment. “Wish we could vlog about it. That’d be way more fun.”

“I know right,” Noctis said. He paused as he reached the heading of the second part of the instructions, feeling unaccountably embarrassed as he read it aloud to Prompto. “Suggested Forms of Intimacy. For couples. Asterisk, certain activities may not be appropriate for all couples in the study. Please only attempt those which fit within the parameters of your relationship.”

“Wait a minute, what?” Prompto said, getting up and sliding into the chair next to Noctis so they could both read from the page at once.

> SUGGESTED FORMS OF INTIMACY (FOR COUPLES)  
>  *Certain activities may not be appropriate for all couples in the study.  
>  Please attempt only those which fit within the parameters of your relationship.
> 
> Casual intimacy:  
>  -Hugging  
>  -Holding hands  
>  -Kissing (anywhere on the face or hands)  
>  -Butterfly kisses & nose-to-nose kisses  
>  -Napping together  
>  -Extended cuddling (background music is recommended)  
>  -Brushing hair  
>  -Massages  
>  -Bathing together  
>  -Sleeping naked
> 
> Trust exercises (instructions on the back):  
>  -Asking each other relationship building questions  
>  -Extended eye contact  
>  -Listening with empathy  
>  -Breathing together
> 
> Feel free to add your own!

“Holy shit,” Prompto laughed nervously, “Who the hell made this list? Why does it say we should stare into each other’s eyes? Does bathing together really count as _casual_? And who needs background music for _cuddling_?”

“We are _not_ doing all of these,” Noctis said, wishing he could just black out some of the items from the list so he never had to look at the words “sleeping naked together” again and be forced to imagine doing it with Prompto. The insane awkwardness of that act made him cringe just from thinking the words.

“Yeah, we should probably change this,” Prompto said, fishing a fine-tipped dry-erase marker out of the envelope. They mutually agreed to cross off kissing, butterfly kisses, nose kisses, and sleeping naked. Prompto said that bathing together might be fun, but Noctis made him remove that as well. 

“We are not doing any of these ‘trust exercises’,” Noctis said, folding his arms. “They sound incredibly fucking stupid.”

To Noctis’s dismay, Prompto said, “Aww, come on. Where’s your sense of adventure?” in a tone that his brain was going into Prompto Overdrive and was likely about to produce a whole bunch of terrible ideas. “These look so dumb, they _have_ to be good. I want to see what this stuff actually does! It reminds me of those trust falls we did that one time I took judo with you.”

He snatched the card from the table and flipped it over to read the longer instructions. 

Noctis sighed. “Yeah, those were a big waste of time too. But I’ll think about it.” As long as he didn’t have to do anything naked, he supposed he could consider it.

“Mm, thanks,” Prompto said, continuing to read the back of the card. Since he wasn’t looking, Noctis swiped two pieces of chicken from Prompto’s carton and ate them quickly.

“So when are we gonna start? You wanna do one tonight?” Prompto said, flipping the card back the other way around. 

“Cleaning the study room so your partner doesn’t have to do it is a great way to build intimacy,” Noctis deadpanned, and Prompto laughed. 

“Okay, fine, we can do it tomorrow,” Prompto said, giving Noctis an affectionate pat on the back before snagging the remainder of his food from the other side of the table. “Hey… have you been eating my chicken?”

After dinner, Prompto stuck the list on the fridge so they could reference it easily. Then, they had a crack at cleaning the study room, which turned out to be just as boring and lame as Noctis had predicted it would be. Only their joking banter kept them going until the room was finally habitable. Then, they went to gratefully collapse on the couch, where they played on their phones in companionable silence. 

As it turned out at bedtime, the fairy lights did not work, much to Prompto’s disappointment. They turned on, but one of the bulbs kept flickering like an epileptic firefly no matter how Prompto tried to push it more tightly into the socket. 

“Just leave it,” Noctis said, glancing up from his phone. He was already sitting in bed, typing up the day’s log for the study. Prompto groaned, finally giving up and unplugging the lights. 

“I have so much stuff to do tomorrow. How am I gonna get to a store that sells these things?” Prompto said, going to the chest of drawers to get some pyjamas for himself. He, like Noctis, tended to sleep in a larger version of what he normally wore outside - a tank top and shorts, in his case. 

“Order them online,” Noctis suggested. 

“Good idea, thanks,” Prompto said, grabbing his clothes and then heading for the bathroom to brush his teeth.

That night, as Noctis lay beside Prompto in bed, sleep didn’t come as easily as it usually did. Noctis’s phone lay on the windowsill since he had no bedside table, but he didn’t much feel like retrieving it. Shafts of moonlight from the slits in the blinds lay across the blanket that was bundled around the both of them, but didn’t quite reach their mismatched pillows - Noctis’s plain black with a small Assassin’s Creed logo and Prompto’s chocobo-patterned one that he’d had since he was eight. In spite of being in a new apartment, in a new bed, this feeling was familiar. Noctis felt like he was a teen, having a sleepover at his best friend’s house. It was a good feeling. Comfortable. Peaceful. Calm.

But Noctis’s mind kept bringing him back to that moment in the kitchen when they had first read the list. Even with half the stuff removed from it, Noctis still felt uncomfortable with the idea of possibly _brushing Prompto’s hair_ , or _holding hands_ with him. Lying with his back to the wall and Prompto beside him, close enough to feel his warmth, Noctis half wished he could… reach out. Shake Prompto awake. Talk to him. But what would he even say?

_I feel weird about this situation. I don’t know what to do._

Given Prompto’s apparent enthusiasm, they would probably end up burning through the list in the very first month, and then Prompto would get bored of it. This was as much a blessing as a curse. On the one hand, they’d be getting everything over with quickly. On the other hand, Noctis wasn’t looking forward to slogging through a month full of ridiculous intimacy exercises and dodging horribly awkward situations. It would be a month of hell if Noctis wasn’t careful.

Noctis sat up a little so he could see Prompto’s peacefully sleeping face. He looked totally relaxed, splayed out on his stomach with one arm outstretched so that it draped over the edge of the bed. Noctis had no idea how that could be comfortable, but it was a familiar gesture he’d seen many times when glancing over at Prompto in the night in their previous shared dorm rooms. His face was in shadow, but Noctis felt a wave of fondness come over him nevertheless. 

Noctis had no doubt that no matter what happened, he and Prompto could make it through anything together. Because they were a team. They could talk about it tomorrow, right?

Having reassured himself, he rolled over and was finally able to go to sleep. 

* * *

The day before classes went about how Noctis had expected it too. Prompto spent most of the day out, returning twice to whirl through the apartment like a distressed hurricane as he searched for things that he swore he’d unpacked yesterday but couldn’t actually locate now that he needed them. 

Noctis, by contrast, slept in until noon and then lazed about in his PJs. Eventually he did get to putting his class schedule into his phone, and saw that he’d gotten the work schedule he’d requested for his job at the music library. Noctis loved his job. All he had to do was lend CDs and sheet music to people, and half of campus didn’t even know the music library existed, so all he ever really did there was work on his homework and chill - and rip all the CDs straight to his computer. He had about 30 gigs of music, and wasn’t planning to stop collecting any time soon.

After dealing with his schedule, Noctis threw all his stuff into his backpack for class tomorrow, lazed around some more, and then went to dinner with Prompto at the dining hall. They ate some bland kind of roasted beef - Noctis wasn’t sure if he had developed a taste for horrible school food over the past 4 years, or if he was just grateful to be eating something that wasn’t a vegetable, but it didn’t taste as bad to him as Prompto claimed it did. 

When they got home and were taking off their shoes in the entryway, Prompto casually tilted his head and said, “Hey Noct, you ready to have some bonding time?”

All day, Noctis had conveniently forgotten that he had agreed to do something from the list with Prompto tonight. He groaned. “Ugh… fine…” 

Noctis hoped that Prompto couldn’t read Noctis’s nervousness in his face, as all the uncomfortable feelings he’d had about the study last night came rushing back to him suddenly.

Grabbing the list from the fridge, Prompto plopped down on the couch. Meanwhile, Noctis went to curl up in world’s best beanbag chair. It was big enough to contain his entire body if he folded himself up small enough, or could seat both him and Prompto if they were okay with their legs sticking out onto the floor. That thing was the most comfortable thing Noctis had ever had the fortune to nap on. Noctis waited there with anticipation for Prompto to pick something from the list. 

“So, there’s like, a list of relationship building questions,” Prompto said, flipping from the front of the card to the back to read them. 

That sounded easy, and also like a perfect opportunity for Noctis to air his concerns about participating in this study. 

“We can do that,” he said quickly, before Prompto changed his mind and wanted to do a breathing exercise or something worse.

“Really? Sweet,” Prompto said, flashing Noctis a smile before looking down at the list again. “Okay… the first question is, ‘Is there anything I can do for you in this moment to help you feel more comfortable or loved?’”

“Um,” Noctis said, thinking. What would make him most comfortable in this moment was to not be answering these questions, but it was a small discomfort. And as for loved, Noctis suspected that even if he could think of something Prompto could do for him, he wouldn’t know how to ask for it directly. 

“Hmmm…” Prompto said, thinking as well. “Comfortable? Check. Loved?” he looked over at Noctis, who gave him a cheesy smile and a thumbs up. “Okay, I’m good.”

“Me too,” Noctis said, hoping the next question would give him an opening for what he wanted to talk about.

“The next one is, ‘Is there anything I have done in the past week that may have unknowingly hurt you?’” Prompto said. 

Since yesterday was the first day they’d been together since July, there hadn’t been much time for one of them to do something that really hurt the other person’s feelings. Prompto jokingly brought up Noctis eating his chicken last night, which they laughed over before passing quickly from that question to the next one.

“’How can I better support you in your life?’” Prompto read. Noctis sighed in annoyance. It seemed like none of these questions were designed to actually talk about the problem he was having. So far all of them seemed bland and pointless. Prompto didn’t need to ask how to support Noctis better in his life. He was already amazing at it.

Picking up on Noctis’s annoyance, Prompto said, “What’s wrong? We can do something else.”

“No, it’s not that,” Noctis said, feeling bad for interrupting the exercise unintentionally. “It’s just… I wanted to talk to you about something.”

“Oh, well I’d say now’s the perfect time,” Prompto said, smiling encouragingly. 

Noctis was quiet for a moment. Now that it was time to speak, he hardly knew what to say.

“I feel weird,” he said at last. “About the study. The list is making me really uncomfortable.”

“Woah, woah, woah,” Prompto said, sitting up straighter and putting the list down beside him on the sofa. “What’s wrong with the list, Noct? I thought we already took off all the stuff that made you uncomfortable. You know we’re not gonna do anything you don’t want to do.”

“Doesn’t it feel like this study is designed for people who are dating?” Noctis said. The beans in the beanbag rustled as he shifted uncertainly. “Like those questions in the survey, or the stuff we crossed off. It’s not just for friends. I feel weird about it.”

“Oh, yeah, I see what you mean,” Prompto agreed, nodding. “But don’t worry about it. So they made the directions the same for everyone. What matters is that we know what kind of couple we are, right?”

Noctis wanted to raise his eyebrows and say, ‘ _Couple? Really, Prompto?_ ’, but he didn’t. Instead, he reluctantly said, “Yeah… I guess. Here, give me the list.” 

Prompto handed him the laminated sheet, and Noctis read through it again. “Ugh,” he said, handing the list back to Prompto. “All of this is stuff I should be okay with, but now I feel like I’m not. Holding hands is baby stuff. But I just can’t do it.”

“ _Oh yeah, I’ll tell you something I think you’ll understand/When I say that something, I wanna hold your hand_ ,” Prompto sang. “ _I wanna hold your hand, please let me hold your hand_.”

“Shut up,” Noctis said, grinning and wishing he had something to throw at him. Sadly, the only object in reach was the remote control on the coffee table beside him. Prompto gave him an exaggerated wink. 

“Are you sure you’re not just overthinking things?” Prompto said, being serious again. He raised an eyebrow at Noctis. 

“I probably am,” Noctis admitted. “It’s just, if we’re hugging because we have to, doesn’t it feel unnatural to you?”

“Hmm,” Prompto said, folding his arms and leaning back against the sofa. “Okay, so ease into it by starting with the easy stuff, like the trust exercises. And then you can initiate everything else yourself, so you’re comfortable with it.”

“Holy fuck, no,” Noctis blurted out. “Not me. You do it.” 

If Noctis were the one initiating things from the list, it would take them the whole school year to get through it. Between the two of them, Prompto was by far the more touchy-feely one - he craved physical affection pretty much always. But he’d been super shy about it in freshman year, which Noctis was worried was because of some long-held insecurity. He’d done his best to encourage Prompto’s hugs and friendly ass pats ever since then.

“Wait, how am I supposed to know if you’re in the mood?” Prompto said incredulously.

Noctis snorted fondly. “When has that ever stopped you in the past?”

“Noct… that makes me sound creepy…” Prompto groaned. 

“No, man, it’s fine,” Noctis said, hoping he was being reassuring. “You know I’m totally cool with you.” Prompto still looked doubtful, so Noctis stuttered out, “Um. I like it when you touch me? Shit. That sounded sexual. Fuck, can we change the subject?” 

Certain he was blushing, Noctis squirmed uncomfortably. He felt so stupid for saying that. The words “sleeping naked” flashed through his mind and he wanted to just disappear into the folds of the beanbag and never be seen again.

“The next question is ‘How do you feel about our sex life lately?’” Prompto said, grinning. “Haha, just kidding. That’s question number eight.”

“Prompto!” Noctis snapped. Scowling, he turned his head away.

“Sorry, Noct, I was just playing,” Prompto said worriedly. When Noctis looked up, he saw Prompto was looking pathetically concerned. 

Noctis sighed. 

“Just get on with it,” he said grumpily. 

Prompto asked him the next question, which was “When you come home from work/class, what can I do or say that will make you feel the most loved?” Although he really just wanted to sulk, Noctis did his best to answer. It was a struggle to get through the rest of the questions. 

Which was why an hour later Prompto was saying, “Okay, Noct, which Star Wars character would you most like to fuck?”

“From the original series?” Noctis asked. He had uncurled a little and was now half sprawled out on the floor.

“Yeah, of course,” said Prompto, who was draped over the entire sofa. The list lay abandoned on the coffee table. “I think I’d go with Princess Leia, if I had to pick one person. If not her, then Han Solo.”

“Your taste in men is garbage,” Noctis informed him. “How could you trust a man like Han not to dump you at a space motel and run away? I’d definitely fuck Luke. He’s cute.”

“It’s ‘who do you want to fuck’, not ‘who do you want to raise a family with,’” Prompto countered. “I bet Han could show you a good time. But you know who we’re overlooking? Obi Wan Kenobi. Hear me out: _young_ Obi Wan Kenobi.”

Noctis groaned. “But he was old in the original series, you cheater.”

“Too bad,” Prompto said, giving Noctis a big, cheesy grin. They kept up this banter until finally the conversation devolved into a pointless argument over whether R2D2, BB8, or C3PO would win a knife fight.

And that was officially the end of their first trust exercise. Overall, Noctis rated the experience a seven out of ten on the emotional stress-o-meter. He knew he should feel better now that he and Prompto had a plan to get through the list, by starting with the easy stuff first, but he still had a feeling this study would go horribly wrong… somehow. At the very least, yet another inappropriate dream about Prompto was pretty much inevitable at this point, what with Noctis’s brain screaming at him about naked cuddling every five seconds and Prompto asking about their sex life. Wouldn’t that be awkward now that they were sharing a bed.

Noctis could only hope that as the days wore on, things would go back to normal between him and Prompto, list or no list.

* * *

The first week of classes passed quickly, in a flurry of new faces and old friends. Conveniently, Noctis and Prompto’s schedules overlapped quite well this semester, partly because they had a shared class, and partly because they had requested overlapping work hours. Noctis had his gig at the music library, and Prompto was a senior assistant at the photography lab. Aside from work and class, they were both peripherally in the anime club and the gaming club, but they only attended those when they felt like it. Prompto’s a capella group had disbanded last year after an unfortunate incident during evening gig at a local bar called the Purple Platypus. 

The beginning of the week was busy. On Monday, Prompto had dinner with his childhood best friend Cindy, who had grown up with him in Lestallum; and Tuesday he had an extra long evening shift at work. In the evenings, Prompto and Noctis fell asleep beside each other. In spite of Noctis’s dire predictions for the outcome of _that_ , Noctis was glad of Prompto’s gentle presence beside him every night. Other than that, they were too busy to try anything on the list, much to Noctis’s relief.

But when Wednesday rolled around, their schedules overlapped long enough for them to have some free time. They took advantage of it to go for a relaxing walk in the city park together, and Prompto somehow managed to convince Noctis to try the “Extended eye contact” trust exercise. 

First, they couldn’t decide where to sit. They ended up at the kitchen table, sitting on the hard wooden chairs, knees just brushing. Prompto handed Noctis a plastic barrette and told him to clip his bangs back. Then, when they were ready to start, Prompto took one look at Noctis’s face and inexplicably burst into laughter, which it took him several minutes to get under control. He kept giggling even after, possibly because the whole thing was so ridiculously awkward. When they finally managed to just sit there and stare at each other like the instructions said, Prompto’s mouth still twitching up at the corners, Noctis felt like he was being forced to try and develop some kind of bizarre, Prompto-specific telepathy. 

It was so strange, to look into the eyes of another thinking being with thoughts and emotions and a whole world in his head, be intimately familiar with that world as a function of being Prompto’s best friend, yet still have no idea what Prompto was thinking or feeling in that very moment. Plus, knowing that Prompto was staring right back at him was making him feel exposed. For some weird reason, Noctis started becoming deeply aware of small details on Prompto’s face, like the violet tinge in the centre of his irises, how his blond eyelashes fluttered when he blinked, and how there was one prominent freckle above his angular left eyebrow. 

He had just enough time to decide that freckle was cute and hate himself for thinking that, when the timer on Prompto’s phone went off and Noctis was released from his torment. 

“Well, that was awkward,” Prompto said sheepishly. Noctis got up, walked to the fridge, and crossed the remaining “trust exercises” off the list with the dry erase marker. Prompto didn’t argue with him.

There were no more problems with following the rules of the study that week. Greeting each other whenever they entered or left the apartment was pretty much a non-issue, as long as they remembered to do it. The one annoying thing was keeping that stupid log of their relationship development, something which Noctis frequently forgot to do, or would only remember when trying to fall asleep. Most of his entries were just simple lists of facts about their day, like “today we had dinner together. It was good.” The one from Wednesday mostly consisted of complaining. 

As Friday approached, Noctis became more and more nervous about the whole “friend date” thing. With two of the items from the list going so awkwardly already, Noctis did not want the dates to become a boring chore they had to look forward to at the end of every week. 

For their first date, Prompto and Noctis agreed on a classic dinner out. Since it was the beginning of the semester still, they had time to relax and eat slowly. Plus, they had both agreed that it would be a shame not to get the full potential out of their 200$ - which meant they were going somewhere fancy. Prompto, having grown up lower middle class and not even in Insomnia, wasn’t really familiar with the nearby eateries, leaving it up to Noctis to chose their destination. 

“Since it’s gonna be fancy, we have to dress up, Noct!” Prompto had insisted earlier that evening. Which was why Noctis was now tying a dark blue silk tie around his own neck. The suit he wore was a simple, tailored, ink-black affair, with a crisp white shirt, a sleek silver tie pin, and very pointy shoes. Noctis liked pointy shoes because he felt like they made his stubby feet look more… mature. So he wore them without fail for every formal occasion. 

Meanwhile, Prompto had spent thirty minutes rifling through the closet and trying to pick a suit. Noctis had not realised this at the time they had moved in, but Prompto had a monumental suit collection. Apparently once they had been accepted into the study Prompto had actually read the instructions, found out they were going to be given date money, and used it as an excuse to go thrifting for cool suits. Only now was he finally actually putting on a shirt, some kind of floral affair. Noctis gave him a fond glance as he left the room to go do his hair. A few minutes later, Prompto appeared at the doorway to the bathroom, wearing a sylleblossom blue suit, with what indeed turned out to be a floral-patterned shirt, black with red and pink blossoms. Noctis never would have thought a combination like that could actually look good, but Prompto was pulling it off with panache.

A significant quantity of hair gel and some bickering with Prompto over bathroom counter space later, the two were out the door and on their way to the restaurant. Fortunately, it was close enough for them to walk - just one of the benefits of living downtown. It was just a touch too warm to be out in suits, the last heat of summer lingering in the air. Unfortunately, Noctis and Prompto couldn’t really stop to enjoy the atmosphere, as they were about to be late for the reservation Noctis had made. 

The restaurant Noctis had chosen was a fancy Indian place housed in a brick 3 storey building. The inside was beautifully decorated with jewel-toned wallpaper, brass hanging lamps turned down low, and carved wooden chairs. The doorways, cut in the shape of pointed arches, were painted with flowered geometric designs, while the ceiling was a mandala of reds and whites, resembling that of the Taj Mahal.

“Woah… I clash with the wallpaper, but this place is so nice,” Prompto commented to Noctis as the waiter led them to their table. As Prompto went to sit down, Noctis hurried to pull the chair out for him. Although Prompto looked surprised, he graciously accepted the seat.

“You picked a great place, Noct,” Prompto said as the waiter walked away. “You know how much I love spices.”

“That was the idea,” Noctis said, shrugging. “I looked at the menu beforehand and I think you’d really like the pork vindaloo or the vegetable curry.”

Prompto looked impressed. “You picked out food for me?”

“It’s just a suggestion,” Noctis said, a little embarrassed. “Technically I invited you because I picked the restaurant, so, you know…” He hadn’t originally intended to memorise the menu, but his nerves following the staring incident had prompted him to scrutinise every inch of the restaurant before they arrived. While looking for non-vegetable dishes for himself, he had noticed the spiciness ratings for each dish and immediately thought of Prompto. That’s when he’d gotten the idea to hold doors and chairs for him as well. He had wine suggestions too, if Prompto wanted them. Maybe he had gone overboard, he realised now, with a pang of anxiety to follow.

Prompto was still looking at Noctis in question, so Noctis cleared his throat and added, “You know, I wanted to make you feel classy.”

“Oh!” Prompto said, looking pleased. “Well, thanks. I think it’s working.”

Internally, Noctis heaved a sigh of relief. After that, it didn’t take them too long to pick from the menu, because of the work Noctis had put in beforehand. When the food came, Prompto took a few discrete pictures of it with his phone, lamenting the fact that the restaurant was too classy for him to just start snapping art shots of everything else. The lamb vindaloo turned out to be so spicy that it made Prompto’s entire face flush pink and his eyes water. 

“Are you _sure_ you’re enjoying that?” Noctis teased him. Prompto gave him a double thumbs up and then ate another piece of lamb with a large quantity of raita slathered on it. 

During the meal, they mostly talked about their classes, especially griping about their shared ecology class. 

“It’s nice that we get to go on a field trip to identify tree leaves in the park, but could the syllabus be any more disorganised?” Prompto said. Shaking his head in annoyance, he took a sip of the wine that they’d ordered on Noctis’s recommendation.

“That lecture we got today was kinda confusing, and I already _know_ the basics of ecology,” Noctis agreed. “But don’t worry. I’ll help you keep up. You can repay me by doing the laundry.”

“You lazy bum,” Prompto laughed. 

Soon, conversation turned to all the news they’d picked up from the friends they had run into that week on campus. Neither of them had seen Gladio or Ignis yet, since they were grad students. But Prompto relayed all the news he’d gotten from Cindy, Aranea, and his other friends, while Noctis mentioned a funny encounter he’d had with the computer science department’s resident punk, Loqi, who he hadn’t recognised because he’d dyed his hair purple. 

“The first thing he said when he saw me was “Hey, Noct, you punk bitch,”” Noctis recounted, and Prompto burst into laughter. 

After dinner, they wandered the bustling streets in search of dessert, because Noctis wasn’t down to eat the carrot pudding offered on the restaurant’s menu. The evening air was still quite warm, so Noctis carried both of their jackets. Prompto grinned in a knowing way when Noctis held out his arm to take his, and Noctis hid his own smile and tried to play it cool. This was the first time in a while he’d had to use the rules for a chivalrous date that his dad and Ignis had impressed upon him back in high school when he was dating Luna. Still, there was something reassuring about having rules about how to act in this situation, even if he was half playing around with them, trying them on for size.

After a short while, they found themselves in the neighbourhood of their favourite gelato store. With wine, an appetiser, two entrées, a side dish, and a sizeable tip, most of their budget for the night had been literally eaten up at the restaurant, but they had just enough money left to cover the gelato. 

As Noctis held the door for Prompto on the way out, Prompto said, “You know, I think next week it’s my turn to treat you on our date, Noct.”

“You don’t have to,” Noctis said automatically, and Prompto rolled his eyes. 

“Don’t be sexist,” he joked, eating a spoonful of his hazelnut gelato. “I want to. It’ll be fun. I’ll pick where we go and everything. We can trade off every week.”

“I guess, Noctis said, after some reflection. He hadn’t meant for this to become a thing, but since it had been working for them so far, it was comforting to think they’d do it again.

“Sweet,” Prompto said, pumping the fist that wasn’t holding the gelato. “What do you want to do? We could go to a different kind of restaurant. Or to a movie. Omg, 200$ would totally pay for concert tickets!”

“Watch out,” Noctis said, yanking Prompto to the side before he could run into a random pedestrian in his excitement. Fortunately, Prompto did not drop his gelato. He gave Noctis a sheepish grin, then stuck a little closer to his side as they crossed the street. 

“So, how about it?” Prompto asked. “Imagine if Years & Years was in town. Six, wouldn’t that be sick?”

“Don’t concerts get sold out really far in advance?” Noctis said doubtfully as they turned towards home. “Maybe we could go next semester, though.”

“There’s always movies!” Prompto said. “Maybe next week we could go see the new Star Wars movie. I know you haven’t seen it yet.”

“Sure,” Noctis said, although he knew that Prompto had already seen it over the summer before school started. 

The rest of the walk home was short, but long enough for both of them to finish their gelato. Noctis stuffed both of their empty cups into a public trash can, which made it much easier to carry their jackets. When they reached the door, Noctis stopped, shaking his head. 

“It feels like I just walked you home and now I have to say good night,” he said, fishing in his pocket for the key. His mind helpfully supplied that if this were a real date, he might get a goodnight kiss, too - but he ignored it.

“Right?” Prompto agreed. Noctis unlocked the front door and they walked back inside. Seeing their familiar furniture, Noctis’s beanbag, and the kitchen table with Prompto’s laptop sitting out on it was instantly comforting. 

“If this were a real date, I guess we would’ve stayed out a lot later,” Noctis commented as Prompto finally took his jacket back. They both headed straight to the bedroom to change. Wearing suits for a date was all well and good, but being home meant chilling out. Much easier to do that in regular clothes. Or pyjamas, Noctis figured, because that’s what he was going for.

“Yeah?” Prompto said, entering the bedroom. “We could’ve gone to the park.”

“We could’ve, but I’d rather play video games with you,” Noctis said, hoping Prompto would be okay with that. 

Prompto smiled, giving Noctis a casual pat on the butt as he opened the closet door. “You’re on,” he said. 

As the suit pieces came off one by one and Noctis changed into his comfy black PJs, Prompto beside him wondering whether they should play Mario Kart or Super Monkey Ball, he felt himself completely relax. They spent the rest of the night alternating between both games. At the end of the day, as Noctis wrote in the log, he felt enormously relieved that date night, at least, was something that came naturally to them. It remained to be seen how next week's intimacy exercises would go, but if it all went pear-shaped - at least Noctis could look forward to his Friday night date.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ○ The beanbag in this fic is my ideal beanbag. My cousin has one like this and I took the best nap of my entire life in it. I want one.  
> ○ The aforementioned judo is supposed to be a replacement for Crownsguard training ;D  
> ○ Noctis sleeps like a paralysed log, and Prompto flails all over the place and steals the blankets. No big deal.
> 
> INTIMACY EXERCISES  
> ○ [Intimacy questions](https://www.jordangrayconsulting.com/2014/08/questions-to-ask-to-go-deep-in-your-relationship)  
> ○ [Extended eye contact & breathing exercises](www.jordangrayconsulting.com/2014/11/6-connection-exercises-for-couples-to-build-intimacy/)  
> ○ [Listening with empathy](https://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/196912/intimacy-the-art-relationships)  
> ○ [Sleeping naked](https://www.marriage.com/advice/intimacy/five-contemporary-intimacy-exercises-for-married-couples/) (Sorry Noctis lol)  
> ○ [Brushing each other's hair](https://www.mylifestages.org/health/sexual_health/couples_exercise_for_intimacy.page)
> 
> [PROMPTO'S SUIT](http://www.outfittrends.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/mens-floral-suit-shirts.jpg)
> 
> [I WANNA HOLD YOUR HAND](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RD7RLe-m2zA)  
> (This is a cover, because the Beatles' copyright team is Too Strong and you can't find their stuff on YouTube easily.)


	2. Week Two

Sunday afternoon found Prompto lying on the couch reading part of the interactive ecology textbook on his phone, while Noctis finished coding a mini lab at the kitchen table. 

“This book sounds like it’s for babies,” Prompto griped as he read. 

“Told you so,” Noctis said, shrugging. He had done his reading at work on Friday afternoon before their date. The textbook explained everything in extremely simple terms and then did it again three times in a row. The only interactive feature that had actually mattered so far was the mandatory quiz at the end of each chapter. The whole thing was tiresome, but at least a good grade on the homework was almost guaranteed for this class. Unlike computer science, which was always a struggle, but one Noctis enjoyed. 

It took him only a few more minutes to finish the lab. He ran the driver for the programme he’d coded, found that it seemed to be working perfectly, then thought about taking a break. He looked over to where Prompto was lying on his back on the sofa with his phone held up over his face. 

Grabbing his own phone from the table beside him, Noctis got up and walked over to the sofa. 

“Scoot over,” Noctis said, nudging Prompto’s leg. Prompto rolled his head to the side to give Noctis a look that said he was bored and not in the mood to move. 

“Meh,” he said. “It’s fine. Just sit on me.”

Noctis considered plopping himself down in the middle of Prompto’s stomach and starting a play fight, but a more inviting prospect still was just lying down on top of him and napping for an hour. So he did just that, stretching out on top of Prompto with his head pillowed on Prompto’s chest. 

Then he closed his eyes, and listened to the gentle beat of Prompto’s heart. 

Warm. Comfy. Good. The rise and fall of Prompto’s chest as he breathed was lulling Noctis to sleep. He could also hear Prompto sigh in annoyance and make other little noises of surprise, confusion, or comprehension to himself as he read. It was cute and familiar. Noctis suppressed a smile as he began drifting off to sleep. 

After a while, he became aware that Prompto had put the phone down on the arm of the sofa, and was now holding on to him with both arms. Noctis’s eyes flicked open in curiosity, and he saw that Prompto had closed his eyes as well. This was unusual - Prompto normally didn’t nap during the day. Maybe that ecology textbook had bored him so much that it had actually put him to sleep.

Just as Noctis had closed his eyes again, he heard Prompto say, “Hey, Noct!”

“What?” he said crankily, refusing to open his eyes.

“You know what this cuddle session needs?” Prompto asked, sounding way too excited. “Background music!”

“What?” Noctis groaned, then remembered --

“It was on the list,” Prompto said, and Noctis groaned again, burying his face in Prompto’s chest so that Prompto would get the message that he didn’t want to deal with this. 

“Come on, I’ll get bored if we just lie here,” Prompto insisted. “I can put it on my phone, we don’t have to get up or anything.”

He raised on arm to pick up the phone, and Noctis grabbed his wrist and pulled it down around himself again.

“Aww,” Prompto said, sounding a little disappointed. Turning his head back to the side so it could rest comfortably again, Noctis sighed, then opened one eye. Prompto was looking down at him hopefully. 

It wasn’t a trust exercise, but Noctis still didn’t like it.

“Ugh,” he said, closing his eyes again. _That fucking list._ Now it was going to ruin cuddling for him, too, but he didn’t have the energy to fight it. “Fine, but I get to pick half the songs.”

“Fine, but no classical music, cuz those songs take like ten whole minutes,” Prompto agreed. 

That was too bad, given that classical music was better for sleeping to, and lasted long enough for Noctis to actually drift off. But Prompto found it boring, preferring cheesy 80s hits, pop, punk, and alternative. Weirdly, his favourite band was an electropop group called Years & Years. Noctis was a fan of metal, especially symphonic metal and fantasy metal. But their music tastes did overlap quite significantly in the realm of hard rock and punk rock.

“You can pick first,” Prompto said generously, as Noctis released his arm and he picked up his phone.

Noctis thought about it for a moment. “With Me by Sum41,” he said, and Prompto pulled the song on his phone. 

_I don't want this moment to ever end,_  
_Where everything's nothing without you._  
_I'd wait here forever just to, to see you smile,_  
_'Cause it's true, I am nothing without you._

As the familiar opening played, Noctis let the music wash over him. Even though he was still lying on Prompto, with Prompto’s arms resting on his back, he couldn’t go back to sleep. He liked the song too much. Besides, whenever the melody or the beat shifted, it drew his attention back and forced him awake again. 

Whoever said that cuddling needed background music was an idiot. On the plus side, the song was still good. 

After it ended, Prompto quickly switched the song without saying anything, to Something Just Like This. It wasn’t Noctis’s favourite song, but he liked it well enough, and Prompto was practically obsessed with it. Noctis could feel Prompto’s chest vibrating as he hummed along, seemingly unaware that he was doing it. It was kinda annoying, but Noctis just ignored it. When the song ended, Noctis requested Touch in the Night by Battle Beast. Then Prompto picked Favourite Colour by Carly Rae Jepsen. And so it went, ping-ponging genres back and forth from metal to pop, then back again. 

All hope of Noctis going back to sleep was lost. The more songs they listened to, the more restless Prompto got. First it was just the humming, which made Noctis want to strangle him. Then he was drumming his fingers, then he was trying to lip synch the words and bobbing his head in time with the beat. Noctis was unceremoniously forced awake.

“This is not working, Prompto,” he growled, finally raising his head and looking Prompto in the eye. 

He must have looked scary, because Prompto let out a startled exclamation, and then immediately, without arguing, said, “Okay, I hear ya. Change of plans, Noct?”

And that was how, several minutes later, Noctis found himself singing loudly along to No News Is Bad News by Dashboard Confessional as Prompto sang equally as loudly and played air guitar beside him. The only thing preventing Noctis from playing air guitar too was the fact that one of them had to hold the phone so that they could read all the lyrics. The bridge kicked in, and the two braced themselves against the sofa to belt out the words “wholly divine” as loudly as possible. 

“Play Shine, play Shine,” Prompto begged as soon as the song was over. 

“You chose the last one!” Noctis said, holding the phone out of his reach. But he conceded to the request anyway, making Prompto cheer when he heard the opening chords. 

_It’s shaking the sky, and I’m following lightning_  
_I’ll recover if you keep me alive_  
_Don’t leave me behind, can’t you see me, I’m shining_  
_And it’s you that I’ve been waiting to find_

Noctis wasn’t very familiar with this song, though it was Prompto’s current obsession. But it didn’t matter. Noctis was happy to hear him sing it, his voice lovely and sincere. Prompto clowned around by pretending he was singing the ballad to Noctis, putting his hand over his heart and then holding it out dramatically. When Noctis gave him a sarcastic high five, he wiggled his eyebrows and pulled Noctis into a duet of the chorus.

It took six or so more songs for the fun to wear off, mostly because Noctis was getting hungry. Prompto seemed like he could go for another round, but his stomach was growling too. So, they made their way to the dining hall, where they discussed the results of their afternoon experiment. 

“So I was right,” Noctis said, grinning smugly. 

“Mmm?” Prompto said, looking up from the “chicken caesar salad” he’d made by combining a regular caesar salad with lowfat dressing and a couple of chicken nuggets. 

“Cuddling and music don’t go together,” Noctis said. He leaned towards Prompto as he spoke, feeling weird about saying the word cuddling aloud in public lest one of his other friends appear from behind him and get the wrong idea.

“I guess not,” Prompto agreed. “But our jam session was awesome.”

“Yeah, but can we just go back to regular cuddling?” Noctis said, still leaning towards Prompto. At that moment, a kid from his Global Environmental Health class walked past their table, and Noctis winced. 

Prompto seemed oblivious to Noctis’s discomfort. “Yeah, totally,” he said. “When we get home, let’s cross off “background music” from the list and add “karaoke” to the “add your own” section.”

“Karaoke and dance party,” Noctis said, raising one eyebrow. Although Noctis had been reluctantly pulled into the afternoon’s activities, he now had to concede that yeah, he and Prompto had actually had fun. He still didn’t trust the list, but after this and their first date had turned out so well, he was feeling a little more optimistic. 

“Our neighbours are totally gonna hate us in a couple of weeks,” Prompto laughed. 

* * *

On Monday, they got back into the swing of things with an ecology class first thing. Noctis got a text from Ignis asking if they could meet up sometime that week and reminding him that Gladio wanted to see him as well. After exchanging a few texts with Ignis, Noctis determined that his friend’s schedule for the semester was nowhere near as conveniently open as his and Prompto’s. The one night Ignis had free that week was Friday, and Noctis had to think fast in order to come up with an excuse as to why he and Prompto wouldn’t be able to make it then - there was no way he was telling Ignis he was going on a date, friend date or not. 

Wednesday, Prompto asked Noctis if he could brush his hair. Noctis had a sneaking suspicion he was only asking because it was on the list, but he didn’t ask because he didn’t want to know. Not asking meant not complaining. It was a weird request, but it seemed simple enough, so it was best to just get it over with. 

“If there’s one thing I learnt from being friends with girls and growing up in Lestallum, it’s how to brush people’s hair,” Prompto said, then made Noctis wash the gel out of his hair before they started. After Noctis towelled off, he came into the living room to find that Prompto had turned the beanbag on its side and placed it in front of the sofa.

“Come sit,” Prompto said, patting the beanbag. Noctis came over and sat down, leaning back comfortably and finding himself caught between Prompto’s knees. Prompto started gently combing through Noctis’s hair, starting from the ends and working his way up to the root so that he didn’t pull too hard. The repetitive motion was soothing, and Noctis closed his eyes. 

Then, Prompto set down the comb and began ruffling Noctis’s hair with his fingers.

“That doesn’t feel like a comb,” Noctis said, startled. Prompto’s fingers slowed, but didn’t stop.

“You don’t like it?”

Noctis took a deep breath in through his nose. He felt like a large dog having its ears rubbed. It was odd, but… really, really nice, actually.

“No, keep doing it,” he said, thinking that maybe now he knew why dogs liked being petted so much. It was like Prompto’s hands were radiating some kind of peaceful energy that transfered directly to Noctis’s scalp through touch. 

“So, tell me about your day,” Prompto said after a moment. 

“Mmm,” Noctis replied, searching his mind for anything interesting to talk about. “Nothing happened. Tell me about yours.”

So Prompto told Noctis about his design class, and they sat there for a good fifteen minutes, Prompto continuing to run his hands gently through Noctis’s hair. 

“Wanna switch?” Prompto said hopefully, at the conclusion of a story about how one of his friends had been late to class because of a squirrel and a waffle iron. 

“Yeah, sure,” Noctis said, wanting to brush Prompto’s hair as well to return the favour. Although he had no idea what he was doing. 

When Prompto headed to the bathroom to wash the gel out of his own hair, Noctis sat on the couch and ran his hand through his hair, which felt clean, loose, and free. His scalp was tingling pleasantly. He knew that if anyone walked in on them doing this, he would die of mortification, but he couldn’t deny that it felt really good.

“I’m back,” Prompto sing-songed, entering the room and plopping himself down on the beanbag. His hair was still slightly damp. Noctis picked up the comb and set about brushing Prompto’s hair, trying to imitate the gentle parallel motions Prompto had made.

“Does this feel okay?” Noctis asked uncertainly. 

“Yeah, it’s good,” Prompto said in a hushed voice. “You could speed up if you wanted. You’re not hurting me.”

So Noctis did, finishing combing Prompto’s hair. This time, they didn’t talk, as Noctis concentrated hard. It was peaceful, almost meditative. 

When it came time to put down the comb, Noctis was a little uncertain. 

“So do I just… I dunno,” he said, feeling dumb as he fluffed the hair at the back of Prompto’s head with one hand. 

“Yeah, like that,” Prompto said calmly. “Put all your fingers on my head and open and close your palm, or move them down the side of my head in a kind of scratching motion. Want me to show you?”

“No,” Noctis said immediately. He could figure this out for himself. Tentatively, he tried following Prompto’s instructions, and heard Prompto give an appreciative hum of pleasure in response. Just like with the comb, Noctis quickly got into the rhythm of it. 

Seeing Prompto relax, being close to him… Noctis would be lying if he said he didn’t enjoy it. He liked the closeness, he liked making Prompto feel good (although he didn’t want to admit it, since it sounded kinda gay). 

When they finished, Prompto turned to Noctis and said, “So what do you think? Should we try this one again?”

Noctis smiled. “Yeah,” he said, and was gratified to see Prompto’s face light up in response. “We can absolutely do it again.”

* * *

The next day, they had a field trip to the park for their ecology class. It was a warm day, and they and the rest of the class stood around looking at tree leaves for a few hours. Nothing else of note happened, but they did hug once because they felt like it. Also, the new bulbs for Prompto’s fairy lights finally arrived in the mail, but when Noctis tried plugging them in, they continued to flicker annoyingly. Since they weren’t his lights, Noctis just ignored the unopened package of bulbs on Prompto’s bedside table.

And then it was Friday.

For their second date, Prompto had decided that watching Rogue One together was definitely the way to go, so now Noctis and Prompto were on their way to the movie theatre. This time, Noctis was totally looking forward to their date. Not only had last week’s date gone well, and the past week been free of List-related angst, but he was pretty excited to see Rogue One - and Prompto was as well.

“Noct, you’re gonna love it,” Prompto was saying. “It’s not as good as the original trilogy, but it’s way better than The Force Awakens was. You’re gonna love K2SO, he’s so funny and sarcastic. And Cassian is the _best_ , he’s my favourite. He's so cool and badass.” 

This week’s suit was a stylish red jacket over a white shirt with tiny black polka dots, dressed down by being paired with fashionable dark jeans. Prompto had apparently acquired the jacket from a local Goodwill. The red was fresh and bright, which probably was a good thing given that Prompto was so excited about this movie that he was talking wildly with his hands, risking slapping a passing pedestrian by accident. 

“Well, don’t spoil anything,” Noctis warned him. He was wearing the second of the two suits he owned, which was basically just the bargain bin version of the first - all black, and no tie today. Maybe a little overdressed for just a movie date, but Prompto had really wanted to wear the red jacket tonight. 

“No, of course not,” Prompto said. “But you should know that Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford are in this movie. Get hype.”

“I’m _so_ hype,” Noctis said, grinning. Although Prompto was by far the bigger nerd than Noctis when it came to Star Wars, Noctis was really looking forward to seeing the new movie.

“Hold up,” Noctis said as he caught sight of a poster on a stand beside the cinema doors. “That’s a poster for National Feathers. Didn’t that movie come out, like 50 years ago or something? But that poster looks new.”

“Oh my gods,” Prompto said immediately, turning towards the poster with his whole body. Prompto had a special obsession with movies about chocobos, especially the kind of girl-meets-chocobo flick where a girl found a poor untamed/abandoned/abused chocobo, rescued it, and went on to ride it to victory in some kind of famous race. When it came to that genre, Prompto had seen them all: National Feathers, Dark Beak, Blackbird Beauty, Fluffy of the Chincoteague. Noctis hadn’t seen a single one.

“It’s National Feathers,” Prompto said, reading the fine print. “A remastered version, that they’re showing at this cinema tonight in half an hour, for one night only. Oh my gods…” He was bouncing up and down a little as he spoke. 

Noctis thought about it for a moment. “We could see it,” he said. He wasn’t too keen on girl-meets-chocobo, but if this movie was really special to Prompto, then maybe he should see it. Even if it didn’t have any lightsabres… Noctis hoped that Rogue One would still be playing next week. But maybe Prompto wouldn’t want to go on two movie dates in a row. Damn.

“No, no,” Prompto was saying, shaking his head. “We came here to see Star Wars. You don’t really care about chocobo movies, do you?”

“Uh, no,” Noctis admitted. “But you do, so…”

“Well…” Prompto said, looking longingly at the poster. “I guess I can just watch it again on DVD…”

“Wait,” Noctis said. He looked at the poster, which still showed a very uninteresting picture of Elizabeth Taylor riding some regular yellow chocobo. Then he looked back at Prompto, who was gazing at Elizabeth Taylor and her chocobo with a starry-eyed expression he usually reserved for strangers’ pets or really good photography. He’d had it about Rogue One a few moments ago, but Noctis had a feeling that if they were to watch it now he'd be secretly disappointed.

Noctis sighed. “We can watch it,” he said. “But we’re coming back here to watch Star Wars tomorrow or next weekend, got it?”

“Really?” Prompto said, turning those starry eyes on Noctis, who raised an eyebrow on him, then nodded. 

“Noct, you’re the greatest!” Prompto exclaimed. For a moment, Noctis thought he was about to get a hug, but then instead, Prompto took his hand. 

That alone was enough to make Noctis’s heart skip a beat, as he felt warm fingers close over his. But then, to his horror, he heard a familiar voice say, from behind him, “Oh, look, I think Noct and blondie are dating.”

And then, as they turned, Noctis saw that not only was Aranea standing behind him as he had expected, but she was also accompanied by Gladio, Coctura, and Ignis. His first instinct was to immediately drop Prompto’s hand, but Prompto only held on tighter, as if in defiance. 

“Hi, guys!” Prompto said, sounding cheerful and happy to see them, but Noctis surmised from the still-too-tight grip that Prompto was actually a little tense. Noctis was too, but Ignis, at least, already knew about the study, so he would understand - right?

“Hey, date night for you guys too?” Gladio said with a teasing gleam in his eye. He and Aranea were holding hands, while Coctura was holding Ignis’s arm. All four of them were dressed nicely, but not as nicely nor as strikingly as Prompto. 

“Um, no, no, we’re definitely not dating,” Prompto said, and Aranea raised her eyebrows. 

Quickly, before Prompto could open his mouth and dig a hole for the two of them, Noctis cut in and said, “Yeah, Ignis will explain.”

“I will?” Ignis said, startled, as the group’s attention turned to him. He looked from Noctis to Prompto in apparent confusion. 

Noctis sighed. “Yeah. The study, remember?”

“Ah yes, the study,” Ignis said immediately, pushing his glasses up his nose with his free hand. “Yes, I do remember now. One of my friends from the psychology department is currently conducting a six-month experiment on intimacy, which I believe Noctis and Prompto decided to participate in to take advantage of the two person apartment which comes as part of the study. Isn’t that right?” he said, turning back to Noctis and Prompto.

“Sounds about right to me,” Prompto said, and Noctis nodded. 

“Intimacy? Is that what they’re calling it these days?” Gladio said, prompting Aranea to smirk.

“Well, I think that’s a lovely thing,” said Coctura, who didn’t know them as well and was probably having an easier time taking Ignis’s explanation at face value. She had only been dating Ignis for a few months, but Noctis already liked her. “And congratulations on your apartment.”

“Thanks, we really like having our own place,” Prompto said, sounding as eager to get out of this conversation as Noctis felt. 

“So, what movie are you guys here to see?” Noctis added quickly to change the subject. 

“We’re here to see Star Wars,” Aranea said. Prompto eased his grip on Noctis’s hand slightly. “What about you two?”

“We’re gonna see National Feathers!” Prompto explained, gesturing at the poster beside them with his free hand. “It’s only here for tonight, but it’s one of my favourite movies.”

“A movie about a chocobo?” Gladio snorted. “Figures.”

“Hey, this movie was rated the ninth best sports movie ever,” Prompto said defensively. 

“By who, the Insomnia birdwatching society?” Gladio said, and Aranea snorted in amusement. Noctis just rolled his eyes, giving Prompto’s hand a subtle squeeze. Prompto squeezed back. 

“Actually, the Lucian Film Institute,” Prompto said, sounding annoyed, as Ignis cleared his throat.

“I hate to interrupt, but we do seem to be blocking the doors,” he said. Which was true, people were having to step around the six of them to get inside, and some guy had just shot them a kindof nasty look. 

“Oh, alright. Enjoy your movie,” Gladio said, clapping Noctis on the shoulder as he and Aranea stepped through the doors of the cinema.

“Yes, do,” Ignis added, and Coctura gave them an encouraging smile as she and Ignis followed Gladio and Aranea inside.

This left Prompto and Noctis standing outside on the sidewalk beside the National Feathers poster, still holding hands. Prompto made as if to let go, but this time it was Noctis who held on. It just felt right.

“Well, that was awkward,” Prompto said, kicking dejectedly at the sidewalk. 

“Makes me glad we’re not going to see Star Wars anymore,” Noctis agreed. “Come on, let’s go get our tickets.”

“Yeah,” Prompto said, and they also went inside. Fortunately, there were a few people between them and their friends in line. Aranea gave them a friendly wave as the four of them moved away from the ticket counter to go get movie snacks. Noctis figured that she and Gladio hadn’t meant to come off in such an abrasive way, but that was just Gladio sometimes. Best to just forget about it… and watch the chocobo movie. 

As they approached the counter, something occurred to Noctis as he looked at the movie times. 

“Hey, wait a minute,” he said. “If we watch National Feathers now, we could watch Rogue One that’s playing at 9:26, and see both movies in one night.”

“That’s a great idea, Noct. And it’s not like we can’t afford it,” Prompto said with a laugh. “So let’s do it!”

After they got their tickets, they grabbed some popcorn and drinks before continuing into movie room 10. Prompto carried the drinks and held the door for Noctis, just like he had promised last week. To do this, he had to let go of Noctis’s hand, which Noctis found himself being unaccountably disappointed about. But then again, he also needed two hands to carry and eat from the popcorn bucket simultaneously. 

National Feathers was, as Noctis had expected, the story of a girl (named Velvet) who tamed a supposedly untamable, superfast chocobo named “The Pie” (the logic behind that name escaped him as well). There was also a sketchy guy named Mi who helped her enter The Pie into the Grand National Steeplechase, Velvet’s cool mom, and her hilarious little brother Donald. Noctis had expected to possibly fall asleep during this movie, but in fact he totally didn’t, even though it was pretty cheesy in a vintage kind of way. 

“So? Did you like it?” Prompto said anxiously as they walked out of the movie room. Noctis had caught him glancing over at him several times during the movie. 

“You know what? Yeah, I did,” Noctis said. “It was good.”

“Really?” Prompto said, a cautious smile appearing on his face. 

“Yeah,” Noctis said, and Prompto lit up. That was all the encouragement he needed to start rattling off interesting facts about the movie to Noctis. Apparently he thought Velvet was an awesome character. 

“You only like Velvet cuz she’s weird like you,” Noctis smirked, recalling a scene from the beginning of the movie where Velvet had pretended to be a chocobo as she ran through the fields.

“Give her a break, she’s only fourteen,” Prompto groaned, giving Noctis a good natured nudge in the side with his elbow. 

The two of them had a quick dinner at the medium-cheap diner that was next door to the cinema. They spent the whole time discussing the movie, then debating whether to buy another bucket of popcorn for Rogue One. In the end, they grabbed two slushies from the cinema food counter before making it to the movie just in time. 

Rogue One was awesome. National Feathers had been good, but this was way more Noctis’s genre. Prompto’s predictions turned out to be right - Noctis did love K2SO and his snarky one-liners, and Cassian was really cool and mature. But Noctis’s favourite character was probably Chirrut Imwe, because he loved the way Chirrut used the force to fight without being able to see. Being blind just made him that much more badass. Reminded him of someone he knew, but he wasn't quite sure who.

This time, as they left the movie room, Noctis was telling Prompto how awesome the movie was, and Prompto was going, “Right? Right?” almost as proudly as if he’d made the movie himself. 

Outside the cinema, Prompto took Noctis’s hand again, giving him a glance to make sure that it was okay with him, which it was. They walked all the way home like that, too. Even at ten minutes to midnight, the city was still alive and breathing, colourful rays of light spilling invitingly from the windows of the business and eateries they were passing by. Still, in between the street lights, the darkness dogged at their feet and veiled their faces in the mystery of the night.

Noctis was too distracted by his conversation with Prompto to pay much attention to the atmosphere, however. 

“It’s too bad Jyn wasn’t so well written,” Prompto commented, which surprised Noctis. Prompto tended to latch on to female characters in movies, either because he admired them or because he identified with them. His favourite character from The Force Awakens had been Rey, for instance. This was probably also due to his upbringing in Lestallum. Noctis and Prompto debated over Jyn’s character for a little, but since she wasn’t their favourite character to begin with, the conversation quickly returned to Chirrut and Cassian. They both agreed that Baze and Chirrut were probably a couple. Noctis thought Bodhi was cute, and Prompto agreed that he could probably use, like, a year long vacation and maybe a puppy.

When they arrived home, they got ready for bed, but kept talking for another hour or so. They switched from Star Wars to National Feathers and back again several times. Noctis joked that Velvet would totally beat Jyn in a chocobo race, and Prompto laughed and said that Velvet and The Pie would beat _anyone_ in a chocobo race, and that was the whole point.

Around one thirty AM, they both agreed they should probably get some sleep. They lay down together, Noctis facing the wall, and Prompto facing Noctis. As Prompto’s breathing evened out, Noctis thought about seeing the movies with him and how their date had gone. For some reason, his mind kept going back to how they’d run into Gladio, Aranea, Ignis, and Coctura, and how Gladio had seemed to think it was funny that Prompto and Noctis were holding hands and participating in a study on couples just to get housing. Was it really so weird? Was it really so unbelievable to Gladio that Prompto and Noctis might just be physically close without being in love? 

Prompto and Noctis had been mistaken for a couple before, by people who didn’t know them very well. Then, it had been funny. But when their best friends started doing it… it felt weird. Maybe because it was harder to just brush off. 

“Prompto?” Noctis said, and Prompto gave a sleepy little, “Yeah?”

“Kinda wish we hadn’t run into Gladio and Ignis today,” Noctis said. “Wish they didn’t think we were dating.”

There was silence for a moment. “You can see why they thought it, though, right?” Prompto said, sounding slightly frustrated. 

“Yeah,” Noctis admitted, and heard Prompto breathe out. “They were just so… smarmy. Like they know more about us than we do. Maybe Ignis does, but Gladio doesn’t.”

“Oh, yeah, Gladio can be a dick sometimes, for sure,” Prompto said. “He doesn’t mean it, though.”

“Yeah, I know,” Noctis said. Another beat of silence, and he felt Prompto rest a hand on his back. 

“Don’t worry about it,” Prompto said. Then, boldly, “Maybe one day we _will_ date. Or maybe we won’t - we don’t know what the future holds. But it’s none of his business for now, right?”

Noctis froze. Prompto thought dating was a potential future for them? The very idea should feel _wrong_. Noctis knew that. But instead what he felt was a breathless, wordless, nameless anxiety. Something less akin to disgust and more akin to _anticipation_. 

“Noct?” Prompto said, sounding almost as scared as Noctis felt. “Wait, - I - I mean-”

“Prompto,” Noctis said, and Prompto immediately stilled. “Do you really think we should date?”

“Um…” Prompto said. There was a long pause, and then Prompto said, quietly but earnestly, “I want to be with you, Noct. However you’ll have me.”

Noctis sighed. “Prompto, remember how you broke up with Dessa in sophomore year and I told you to value yourself more?”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah, so tell me what you want. Just be honest with me,” Noctis said. 

“I…” Prompto tried again. Noctis really wanted to turn around and look at him, but he also felt too tense to move. 

“All this fake dating stuff… feels like it would be so easy to just… make it real,” Prompto said at last. “It makes me want to know what it would feel like. If it _were_ real. I think we could be really good together, Noct. So yeah… I guess I want to try it. With you.” He swallowed audibly, and Noctis’s throat clenched in sympathy. 

It was true. That feeling Noctis had gotten on their first date - like they were playing at being together, without actually making it real. But it would be so easy to just turn around, just turn around, and - 

And what? Kiss him? _Now?_ That would be a disaster. Prompto was one of the most precious friends Noctis had, and he wasn’t going to ruin this for him by rushing into anything. 

“Okay. Okay,” Noctis started, although he wasn’t quite sure what to say yet. He just wanted to reassure Prompto that he wasn’t going to get mad and make him sleep on the beanbag or anything. After another moment of thinking, he realised he should take his own advice and just be honest with Prompto. 

“So I know what you mean,” he said. “These fake dates feel like they could be real dates. But that’s the thing. I don’t know what real dates are supposed to feel like, because I’ve never been on one before. You’re the one who’s got a lot of experience, not me.”

Prompto said nothing, waiting for Noctis to continue. 

“Yeah, um, so I’m not really sure what I’m supposed to be feeling,” Noctis clarified. “But whatever I _am_ feeling… I think it feels good.” Just saying it made him smile, as he remembered Prompto in his red suit, looking like Noctis had hung the stars just because he’d agreed to watch his favourite chocobo movie with him instead of Star Wars. Or the time before, where Prompto had spent the entire dinner in varying shades of pink because of the spiciness of his food, and they’d laughed together over Loqi’s purple hair. 

And the closeness of him, cuddling on the couch, and the soothing feeling of his fingers in Noctis’s hair.

But they’d always laughed together, and they’d always been close. Always craved each other’s touch in one way or another. This wasn’t the first time they’d cuddled, nor even the 50th. Noctis didn’t know what the past two weeks meant. Had anything really changed between them? Maybe they were always good boyfriend material, right from the very start. Or maybe he was just over-thinking a couple of artificial dates. At that moment, he hated the list with a passion. If it weren’t for that damn list, maybe Noctis wouldn’t be so confused. Maybe he’d already know where he stood.

But without the list, maybe they wouldn’t even be here to begin with. Prompto might never have worked up the courage to talk to him about this otherwise.

“Maybe I want to try it, too,” Noctis said after a while. “I just need some time to think.”

“You’re gonna think about it?” Prompto echoed, and Noctis hummed in response. Prompto let out a heartfelt sigh of relief. 

Moments later, Noctis felt Prompto lean forward and rest his forehead between Noctis’s shoulder blades. 

“Thanks, Noct,” Prompto said quietly, though Noctis wasn’t sure what he was being thanked for. “You take all the time you need.”

“Wait. What if I decide I don’t want to?” Noctis said, just to be sure, and this time it was his turn to sound uncertain.

“Then we’re friends,” Prompto said instantly, his voice a little muffled in Noctis’s back.

“For life,” Noctis replied, smiling. 

“Yeah,” Prompto said quietly. He said nothing more, but after a moment he shifted, and his arm came up to circle Noctis’s waist. Noctis closed his eyes.

“Good night, Prompto,” Noctis said quietly as he began to relax back towards sleep.

“Night, Noct.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic is just packed with headcanon-y goodness, isn't it now... I deleted like 2 huge paragraphs talking about Noctis and Prompto's music taste. I can't help myself. 
> 
> MUSICAL SELECTIONS  
> ○ [With Me](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psjibMa5-j0) by Sum41 (Thanks, Yunie!)  
> ○ [Something Just Like This](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FM7MFYoylVs) by Coldplay ft. Chainsmokers  
> ○ [Touch In The Night](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enSmON-pcpA) by Battle Beast  
> ○ [Favourite Colour](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gpGqGHEr_8) by Carly Rae Jepsen  
> ○ [No News Is Bad News](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1s4BoS6a6c) by Dashboard Confessional  
> ○ [Shine](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXTAn4ELEwM) by Years & Years (Prompto's favourite band according to me)
> 
> Or, you can listen to most of these tracks on my [PROMPTIS PLAYLIST](https://8tracks.com/rogueofheart/piercer).
> 
> Something Just Like This included because of [Yuneyn's fic by the same name](http://archiveofourown.org/works/12282789/chapters/27919353)!
> 
> [NATIONAL FEATHERS](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mZ428oWZl8)  
> [ROGUE ONE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frdj1zb9sMY)  
> All of the chocobo movies I referenced are based on irl horse movies. So National Velvet, Black Beauty, Dark Horse, Misty of the Chincoteague, etc.
> 
> [PROMPTO'S SUIT](https://i1.wp.com/dudeman.club/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/krasnyj-pidjak-s-beloj-rubashkoy-i-djinsami.jpg?resize=619%2C861)  
> Prompto almost ended up in [Eggsy's Statesman suit](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41zTtFj5gaL.jpg), but I decided it wouldn't suit him and I like the red one better anyway.


	3. Week Three

The next morning, Prompto had just arrived home from a run when Noctis woke up, so they were able to eat breakfast together. Neither of them said anything about the previous night’s conversation, but Noctis caught Prompto looking at him weirdly from over his bowl of cereal once. 

After breakfast, Prompto went to shower while Noctis cleaned up the kitchen. As he was putting the milk back in the fridge, his eye fell on the list that was pinned to the front with a magnet. If it weren’t for that list, maybe he and Prompto wouldn’t be in this situation to begin with - the one where he now had to re-evaluate their entire relationship. 

His attention was drawn to the items on the list that they had agree to cross out at the very beginning. Those were the items which seemed less platonic to Noctis, crossing more into romantic and sexual waters. How did Noctis feel about them now?

 _Kissing… anywhere on the face or hands… butterfly kisses_ (whatever those were)… _Nose-to-nose kisses_ (nuzzles? or something)… _bathing together… sleeping naked together…_ Just reading them was making Noctis’s stomach do flips. 

Noctis wanted to turn away and stop thinking about this, but something held him in place. To buy himself a moment, he opened the fridge and shoved in the milk he’d been stupidly holding for the past five minutes. He could hear the water running from down the hall as Prompto showered, and the feeling of being temporarily alone reassured him. 

But then again, hadn’t Prompto just said last night that he should take all the time he needed to think about things? 

But what if it wasn’t just time he needed to make the right decision? 

About ready to start banging his head against the fridge door, Noctis slouched moodily over to his beanbag chair and curled up in its comforting shell. But he was determined not to sulk. He took his and Prompto’s relationship seriously. If he didn’t, he wouldn’t have agreed to participate in this study in the first place. He just hadn’t expected it to actually change anything for them. Their best friendship was pretty much god tier already, as far as Noctis was concerned.

After a while, Prompto came out of the shower and appeared in the living room with a towel around his neck. He had his laptop, too, apparently planning to work on homework on the sofa. Noctis glanced up, gave him a little smile, and then picked up his phone to maybe read the next chapter of the ecology textbook, or something. 

“You okay?” Prompto said, opening his laptop and getting comfortable on the sofa. “You only sit like that when something is bothering you. If it’s about last night-”

“It’s not,” Noctis cut him off. “Well, kinda. I was thinking.” Prompto nodded, and Noctis took a deep breath. “Okay. So you know how we crossed some stuff off the list?”

“Um, yeah?” Prompto looked worried. “You want to cross more stuff off?”

“No… I was thinking we should add some stuff _back_ ,” Noctis said, looking away in embarrassment. 

“Add stuff back? Like… like what? Like kisses?” Prompto laughed disbelievingly. “I mean, yeah, if that’s what you’re thinking, I’d love to, but Noct, are you sure?”

“Well, no,” Noctis admitted, eyes flicking to Prompto’s face and then back. “But I just thought… the list is low risk because all the stuff on there is supposed to be platonic.”

“So it’s like, a way to test the waters?” Prompto asked, fidgeting with the sofa cushion.

“More like a way to get me out of my comfort zone,” Noctis said with a lopsided smile. “Seems like you’re fine with anything we do. I’m not. You’re not the one with the problem. You know where you stand.”

“Hey now,” Prompto said earnestly, “I don’t want you thinking that you’re some kind of problem. We don’t have to rush into anything.”

“Thanks… But actually, I was also thinking… that maybe it would be fun?” Noctis blushed, completely unable to meet Prompto’s eyes.

“Ohoho, the truth comes out!” Prompto crowed. Noctis tsk’d at him half-heartedly in annoyance. 

Some negotiations later, all of the crossed out exercises were added back to the list, save for the trust exercises, which Noctis absolutely refused to do ever again, and sleeping naked. Noctis had a feeling that he’d never want to do that, with anyone, ever, but after these past two weeks he didn’t think he had the best track record for predicting what he would or wouldn’t like when it came down to intimacy with Prompto.

For the rest of the day, they didn’t do anything too out of the ordinary, just worked on their homework and chilled. The atmosphere in the apartment was slightly tense, as both Noctis and Prompto danced around each other, each trying to make sure that the other was still comfortable in his presence. That mood was momentarily forgotten that night, as Noctis fell asleep in Prompto’s lap after they played Twilight Princess together for two hours. 

The next day, the feeling of awkwardness returned. It was as if they were waiting for something to happen, but didn’t know what. Still, neither of them seemed to want to take the first move to try one of the new things they’d opened up on the list. Noctis was secretly hoping Prompto would initiate, but since he had been the one to suggest trying more things, maybe Prompto was waiting for _him_. 

Monday evening, Noctis was doing his homework in the study room when Prompto showed up briefly after dinner with Cindy to collect his stuff before he went to cover a vacant shift at work. As he was about to leave, Prompto appeared in the study room to say goodbye. To Noctis’s shock, Prompto leaned over and nuzzled their noses together, then gave him a cheesy grin and fled the room before Noctis could say anything. 

The beating of his heart drowned out all other feelings about the incident, but Noctis was not to be outdone. When Prompto reappeared later in the evening, Noctis kissed him on the cheek, just to see how he would react.

“ABORT THE FUCKING MISSION,” his brain screamed as his lips made contact with Prompto’s velvety cheek. Unfortunately, Noctis didn’t have the convenient excuse of having to go to work so he could make a quick escape. So instead, he did an immediate about face, then marched into the bathroom and locked the door without saying a word. Prompto was still in the entryway, laughing so loudly that Noctis could hear him even through the closed door. 

Noctis smiled, relieved. It only took him around ten minutes to work up the courage to come out of the bathroom. But he did make it a point to tease Prompto for the rest of the evening, just to wipe that knowing smirk off of his face. 

In comparison, Tuesday was a lot more calm. Classes, work, anime club in the evening for a re-run of Ghost in the Shell. Prompto did another one of those nose nuzzle things in the morning when they parted ways to go to class, and this time Noctis took it a lot more calmly. He wasn’t sure why Prompto seemed to like doing this, but it wasn’t bad or anything. Maybe it was a Lestallum thing.

Wednesday afternoon, Noctis was working in the study room when Prompto came home from his job at the photo lab. He popped his head through the door of the study room and said, “Hey, Noct, what’s up? I reek of chemicals.”

“Coding,” Noctis said gloomily, then looked up at Prompto and sniffed the air. He thought he could detect a faint inorganic smell lingering on him, but he wasn’t entirely sure what it was. “It’s not that bad. Go have a shower.”

“That was the plan,” Prompto said, making a finger gun at him. “Actually, I’m gonna have a bath. Treat myself. And you look really pissed.”

“More like stressed,” Noctis said, turning back to his code. This algorithm he was working on was turning out to be more difficult than Noctis had thought it would be. He’d spent the last 30 minutes testing its implementation with a driver, only to get a variety of unhelpful error messages. “I’m gonna go see the TA tonight and get him to fix this for me.”

Prompto gave Noctis a sympathetic look. “Good luck, man,” he said, before turning away and disappearing into the bedroom. A few minutes later, Noctis heard him come back out and go into the bathroom. Noctis hit the “run” button on the driver he had coded, and got the same error message as before.

“Damn,” Noctis groaned. 

Prompto appeared back in the doorway, now with a towel wrapped around his waist.

“You okay?”

“Yeah,” Noctis said unconvincingly. Prompto raised both eyebrows, then hesitated. 

“Um,” he said. Noctis looked up. 

“So, uh,” Prompto tried again, drumming his fingers against the door frame and refusing to make eye contact. “Maybe it’s too soon to ask something like this, but… you wanna come have a bath with me? It could be really relaxing.”

Noctis started back, an instinctive “Thanks but no thanks” rising to his lips. But he forced himself to shut his mouth and work through his initial shock and think about the suggestion.

It wasn’t like he had never bathed with Prompto before - they had showered together in locker rooms after judo practice and intermural soccer many a time. It’s just, that was a little more public and required keeping their hands to themselves. A bath was something that was definitely more intimate, and also with a higher chance of unwanted boners. 

Thinking of that, Noctis realised something: if their friendship could survive a bath, it could almost definitely survive _anything_. But that was the reason he’d agreed to add it back to the list in the first place, right?

“Okay then,” Noctis said, getting to his feet. Although he was nervous, he would be lying if he said he wasn’t relieved to be leaving his homework behind, at least. 

Prompto let out a little “Oh” of surprise, then stood back from the doorway so that Noctis could come out into the hallway. 

“Okay, I didn’t actually expect you to say yes, but let’s do this,” Prompto said as they entered the bathroom. He was trying to play it cool, but Noctis could hear the nervousness in his voice and see from his posture that he wasn’t entirely at ease. 

“Relax, it’s fine,” Noctis said, hoping he was faking confidence well enough for it to be comforting. Prompto shot him a lopsided smile as he went to turn the shower water on. 

“You know, my mom and I used to do this when I was a little kid,” Noctis said, to break the silence. Prompto was still looking at him as he tested the water with one hand, and Noctis realised he probably wasn’t feeling comfortable being the only one in a towel. So, he pulled his shirt off as he kept talking, folding it and setting it down on the edge of the sink. “You remember how she’s from Galahad? Apparently, they all bathe together there because the islands have a lot of natural hot springs.” There were some in Insomnia, too, if Noctis was recalling correctly, but most of them had been tapped for geothermal energy at this point, so no one could really bathe in them.

“That’s cool,” Prompto said, as Noctis divested himself of his pants and stood there feeling awkward in just his boxers. “Not really a big thing in Lestallum,” Prompto continued. “I went skinny dipping with my friends a couple of times, though. Once in the Vesperpool, and once in the Sound. Water’s good, wanna get in?”

Prompto looked at Noctis, who swallowed, then nodded. Now or never. Noctis shed his boxers, feeling exposed as Prompto’s eyes flicked up and down his body before he drew away and shed his own towel. Then both of them were getting into the shower together to rinse off Prompto’s chemicals, and a significant quantity of hair gel. 

Prompto went to grab the shampoo bottle. Noctis, seeing a potential distraction from the situation, said, “Hey, we’re in here together. Shouldn’t I be doing that for you?”

“Oh - sure?” Prompto said, handing it over to him. Glad to have something to do other than stare at Prompto’s naked body, Noctis squeezed some shampoo out of the bottle and started washing Prompto’s hair, and Prompto sighed appreciatively. 

“You would not _believe_ what happened at work,” he said, leaning in to Noctis’s touch. “Some moron spilt the photo rinse water all over me. I’m just lucky it wasn’t the chemical bath. I would be in the hospital now if it was. I wanted to strangle him, but it was his third offence so my boss banned him from the lab for the rest of the semester.”

“Gods, Prompto, I’m glad you’re okay,” Noctis said, momentarily distracted by the conversation. “How was it his third offence? It’s still only September.”

“You would not believe,” Prompto said darkly. “I love this job, but the people we get in the lab can turn a hobby into a hazard in ten seconds flat.”

Noctis finished soaping Prompto’s hair, letting go so that Prompto could rinse under the shower’s spray. Then they traded places, Prompto washing Noctis’s hair instead. It was relaxing, just like Prompto brushing Noctis’s hair as they sat on the couch. But when they traded places again to start washing their bodies, Noctis found himself feeling even more awkward than before. They were standing so close together that Noctis could count the freckles on Prompto’s shoulders if he wanted to, watch them move as skin shifted over muscle when Prompto moved. He had to admit, it was hard to keep his eyes from being drawn directly to all the parts of Prompto he couldn’t normally see, which was his torso, and his junk.

Fortunately, that was over quickly, and they were getting out of the tub so that Prompto could run the bath. Noctis could feel himself getting hard, and half wanted to just excuse himself and leave before things got any worse. Prompto was busy switching the shower to the bath and putting the plug in, but Noctis didn’t watch. His cheeks were burning, even as he kept his eyes forcibly fixed straight ahead at the wall.

There was a long moment of awkward silence as Prompto straightened up.

“I might have misjudged this situation, slightly,” Prompto said sheepishly. 

“What,” Noctis mumbled. 

“Well, look,” said Prompto. Noctis looked over, only to see Prompto sporting his own hard-on, or getting there. 

For a moment, the two of them just looked at each other, Noctis completely caught out and unsure of how to react. Prompto looked just as embarrassed as he felt. Just as Noctis was about to panic, Prompto spoke.

“You have to admit…” Prompto started. He stopped, then looked up at Noctis shyly though his bangs. “Isn’t there something at least a little bit _funny_ about this situation?”

Noctis caught Prompto’s eye. Prompto cracked a smile. And then they both were laughing, Noctis clutching his sides, and Prompto leaning against the sink counter. 

“We’re idiots,” Prompto laughed, wiping away tears. 

“This was _your_ idea,” Noctis said, clapping him on the shoulder. 

“Yeah, yeah,” Prompto said, finally getting a hold of himself and straightening up. “Listen, it’s not like this has never happened to us before.” Yes, it was true, they’d had a couple of awkward boner situations while cuddling before, but usually putting a pillow between them had solved the problem. Not so possible here. “It’s just an occupational hazard of being a guy,” Prompto continued. “So there’s nothing to be upset about, right?”

“Yeah, okay, fine,” Noctis conceded. With the tension eased, Noctis felt much better. He felt like maybe he could deal with this now. Something known, something he could handle. 

“Look what I have,” Prompto announced, holding up a pink bottle. “Bubble bath!”

“People actually use that stuff?” Noctis said incredulously. “Hey, don’t put that in there!” he exclaimed as Prompto went to tip it up into the water flowing from the tap. 

“Aww, why not? It’s fun,” Prompto said. Noctis raised both eyebrows, about to tell him it was some kind of weird frivolous nonsense, when Prompto quickly said, “Wait, don’t tell me. Just let me do it, and I’ll buy your favourite brand of hair gel the next time I’m at the convenience store. I know you just ran out.”

“Ugh, fine,” Noctis said crankily, though it probably was a fair trade. Prompto knew how to manipulate him too well. 

As Prompto upended the bottle into the water, bubbles began to form. Noctis felt ridiculous just thinking about getting in there, but he had already agreed to be in this crazy situation - might as well go the whole ridiculous hog.

After the tub had filled up about half-way, Prompto stuck his hand in and grinned. 

“Perfect,” he said. He started getting in, so Noctis quickly followed, glad to not be standing around naked anymore. He found himself up against the wall, with Prompto crouched in front of the taps.

“You sure you don’t want to be in front, dude?” he said. “Little spoon?”

“Nah,” Noctis said, leaning back against the wall. “Come here.” He gestured with his hands, and Prompto just shrugged and grinned, sliding back into Noctis’s arms. After a little finagling, Noctis figured out he was supposed to put his legs on either side of Prompto’s torso, while Prompto rested his head on Noctis’s chest with a contented sigh. 

Noctis closed his eyes, and felt his inhibitions start to fall away. The water was just the way he liked it, hot enough to warm tired muscles and make his body feel lighter. The coolness of the wall Noctis was resting his head on was a soothing contrast to the temperature of the water. Prompto’s weight in his arms was familiar and comfortable, nestled snugly against Noctis’s chest. It would be hard to get closer than the two of them were in that moment. It made Noctis think, not for the first time, how lucky and grateful he was to have someone like Prompto in his life, no matter how this turned out. No one could get him to lower his guard the way that Prompto did, nor make him enjoy it so well.

There was only one awkward thing about it - Noctis was sure that Prompto could feel his junk pressed into his back, but Prompto had said not to worry about that, right? It would only be weird if Noctis made it weird. And he didn’t want to make this weird - he wanted to enjoy it. 

“Kinda still can’t believe we’re in this situation,” Prompto said languidly, apparently as relaxed as Noctis felt. “We’re literally testing the waters of our relationship, haha.” Noctis snorted at Prompto’s lame joke. “How do you like it?” Prompto asked, cracking open one eye to look up at Noctis. 

“It’s good,” Noctis said honestly, opening his eyes as well. From here he could see Prompto’s head tucked against his chest, his freckled knees sticking out of the water, then the taps at the far end. “Think I’d be bored out of my mind if I weren’t in here with you, though.”

He started scooping up piles of bubbles and piling them onto Prompto’s chest, just for fun. 

“What are you doing?” Prompto said suspiciously. 

“You have boobs,” Noctis said, trying to mold the bubbles into the shape of two domes. Instead, they ended up looking rather conical. 

Laughing, Prompto flicked the side of one of his “boobs”. A large chunk of it accidentally came away on his finger. 

“Oh god, your nipple,” Noctis deadpanned. Prompto just kept laughing. 

“You are so immature, dude,” he giggled. 

“At least now I know why people like this stuff,” Noctis said, scooping more foam onto Prompto. “Help me make a sculpture.”

“Of what?”

“I dunno, anything,” Noctis said. 

They spent a few minutes scooping up foam, until Noctis tilted his head to the side and said, “Hey, it looks like our ecology teacher.”

Prompto shrieked and started swiping his arm through their sculpture, completely destroying it. “No more bubbles for you, Noct!”

“Oh come on, what else is there to do in here?” Noctis said, leaning back against the wall again, wrapping both of his arms around Prompto again. 

Prompto immediately launched into a story about some plastic bath toys he’d had as a kid, and how he’d make up stories with them. Noctis insisted he tell a story on the spot, so they both sort of mad-libed a story about a family of sentient rocks. Both of them were laughing by the end of it, although fortunately not enough to slop any more than a small quantity of water out onto the floor. The water cooled down a little, so Prompto used his feet to open the plug, drain some of the water, and then turn the hot tap on. After that, they changed positions so that Prompto was in the back and Noctis in the front. Noctis almost fell over, because it was slippery and there wasn’t much room to pass each other, but Prompto caught him in time. 

Being nestled in Prompto’s arms was just as good as holding him, if not better. By this point, Noctis wasn’t feeling any awkwardness whatsoever. He almost couldn’t remember what he had been so concerned about to begin with. 

“Dude, you wanna get out? The water’s getting cold again,” Prompto said after a while. Noctis’s eyes popped open. He had to concede that yeah, they probably should get out. The bubbles had all mostly deflated by this time, too. 

“Don’t wanna,” Noctis said. “But probably we should.”

They stood up, rinsed the bubbles off with the showerhead, and then Prompto drained the water as Noctis got out of the tub. 

“It was good, right?” Prompto said, grabbing a towel to wrap around himself. 

Impulsively, Noctis hugged Prompto, even though both of them were still only wearing towels. “Yeah,” he said. “Thanks.” 

Prompto hugged him back, and Noctis sighed, at peace. 

Later that night, after going to dinner with Prompto, finishing his homework, and then vegging out with his phone for a little while, Noctis thought about his day. He couldn’t believe it himself, but he was actually looking forward to bathing with Prompto again. Even if it was just showering together in private. He knew it now - he liked the closeness, he liked the warmth of it. And if it was with Prompto, he knew he would be safe. 

It made him wonder what he was worrying about when it came to the thought of dating Prompto. Clearly, something in him wanted more than what they already had. It was little things. Finding his eyes beautiful when they had stared at each other. Definitely getting a boner today when they were showering. It was time that he started acknowledging these things. _Yes_ , he was okay with this, _yes_ , he wanted to be with Prompto, and _no_ , he didn’t know how to make that happen - but if he saw an opportunity, he would take it. 

* * *

Friday night, Prompto plopped down on the sofa opposite Noctis, who was sitting in the godlike beanbag, and said, “Noct, we forgot to plan a date.”

“Shit, it’s Friday,” Noctis said, looking up from his phone. “What are we gonna do?”

“Um,” Prompto said, without any enthusiasm whatsoever. He lifted one hand as if to say something, then let it flop back onto the sofa. “It’s raining.”

Prompto looked at Noctis, who saw in his face exactly what he was sure Prompto was seeing in his: a complete and utter lack of desire to get off of his ass and go anywhere or do anything. 

Noctis looked to the window beside the TV, where fat drops of rain were gathering. 

“Order a pizza,” he said. 

An hour later, Prompto was pacing at the door to the apartment as Noctis murdered people in Assassin’s Creed on TV. 

“I’m so hungry,” Prompto groaned. Noctis pulled of a spectacular stealth kill, then paused to look at the time on his phone.

“They’re late,” he remarked, since the official delivery time was supposed to be five minutes ago. 

“I know,” Prompto said, slumping against the wall in defeat.

“What are we gonna do with all this money we have left over from today’s “date”?” Noctis said, turning back to the TV. “Does this even count as a date?”

“We have like, 100$ from last week’s movie thing, too,” Prompto said. “Maybe we should use it to buy a PS4.”

Just as he was saying that, the doorbell rang. Prompto opened the door, grabbed the pizza box and the plastic bag containing cheese fries, and used 50$ of their date dollars to make the pizza woman’s godsdamned day. He rushed over to set the food on the coffee table as fast as humanly possible. Noctis paused the game, then grabbed the fries as Prompto threw open the pizza box.

Prompto immediately started shoving as much pizza into his face at one time as was humanly possible. Noctis ate more sedately, though he was equally as hungry. After two slices he looked up to see Prompto about to start his third, his cheeks shiny with grease and with a bit of tomato sauce on one of them. Noctis didn’t know why, but it struck him at that moment just how much his best friend was a cute dumbass. 

“Hold up,” Noctis said, reaching out with his thumb to swipe it away. “You forgot this,” he teased fondly. 

“Oh shit,” Prompto agreed. To Noctis’s surprise, he reached out and grabbed his hand. Their eyes met. Noctis felt his breath catch in his throat and knew what was about to happen in the moment before it did. Prompto leaned forward slightly and licked Noctis’s finger clean, his tongue softer than it had any right to be and his expression mischievous. As he let go of Noctis’s hand, Noctis felt his heart thudding in his chest. 

When neither of them spoke for a moment, Prompto said, “You know, that was supposed to be a joke, but it’s not anymore, is it?”

Noctis shook his head. All he could think about suddenly was how much he wanted Prompto’s lips - that _tongue_ \- on his. 

“Why do I feel like you’re about to kiss me?” Prompto said breathlessly. 

“Maybe ‘cause I am,” Noctis said, leaning in.

All of a sudden, Prompto pulled back, holding up one hand against Noctis’s chest to stop him. A pang of disappointment shot through Noctis - had he done something wrong? Did Prompto not want to kiss him after all? Even with all these signs? 

“Wait!” Prompto was saying, before Noctis could get too worried about it. “This is your first kiss, right?”

“Um, yeah?” Noctis said, as Prompto let go of him and grabbed a handful of paper napkins. 

“Well I can’t just kiss you like _this_. It has to be special,” Prompto exclaimed, jumping up from the sofa and scrubbing furiously at his face with the napkins. “You stay here, I’ll be right back!”

With that, he darted away into the bedroom, leaving Noctis sitting on the couch with his heart still beating furiously, though he was completely confused about how to feel. His anticipation mounted as he heard Prompto rustling around in the bedroom, doing Six only knew what. A few moments later, Noctis couldn’t bear the waiting anymore, and he felt a bit like an idiot just sitting there on the sofa all by himself. So he got up and went to stand outside the closed door to the bedroom, wanting to open the door but also wanting to trust Prompto and wait. 

When a moment later the door opened, he flinched in surprise because he was so keyed up. Prompto was standing there, face clean but otherwise unchanged from how he had been before he went into the bedroom. 

“Oh!” Prompto exclaimed. “You’re here. Come on,” Prompto said, taking Noctis’s hand. He led him over to the bed, which he had apparently just finished making. 

Prompto patted the bed. “Sit.”

“Whatever you’re gonna do, do it fast,” Noctis groaned. He just wanted to be kissed before his heart managed to burst its way out of his chest. But Prompto only shushed him, then plugged the fairy lights in.

And they lit up, bathing the room in a soft yellow-white glow, like stars against the pale blue of the walls. The photos strung against the opposite wall gleamed, too dark to be seen in this light but lovely all the same. 

“I already did it. I changed the bulb. Special?” Prompto said hopefully, sitting down beside Noctis, who swallowed, his eyes flicking to Prompto’s face. All he could see was Prompto glowing in the light, the fine golden strands of his hair, the contours of his face outlined against the dark, the spray of freckles across his nose, and the light of his eyes that came not from the outside, but from somewhere within. Violet, clear, and shining for him. 

“Yes,” Noctis replied, too overwhelmed to reply with anything but simple honesty. Prompto’s hand came up to cup the side of his face. He was leaning in, now. Noctis’s breath caught in his throat. 

“Close your eyes,” Prompto told him, and Noctis did. Then, finally, soft lips touched his. 

And the feeling was indescribable. Noctis never wanted to let go. He couldn’t even begin to process the feeling of Prompto’s lips, let alone put it into words. When Prompto pulled slightly away, Noctis just sat there, feeling utterly breathless. 

“Is that - is there - is there more?” Noctis stuttered, and Prompto laughed. 

“Yeah,” he said, putting his hands on Noctis’s waist, “but this time, I want you to kiss me.”

“Um,” said Noctis, looking into Prompto’s face, familiar but somehow new. Those warm hands on his waist were both arousing and comforting, an anchor to ground him but a heat to spur him onwards. 

Prompto closed his eyes, and Noctis took his chin in one hand to guide it towards him. He kissed Prompto once, then again without pausing. Slowly, Prompto began to lean backwards so they were sinking down onto the bed. Without thinking, Noctis went down with him until he was on his hands and knees over him. _Where was Prompto planning to take this?_ Noctis wondered. As he was drawing back for another kiss, he saw Prompto’s lips part and realised that Oh yeah, he was probably supposed to be using his tongue, or something. 

“Prompto,” he said nervously, not sure how to signal to Prompto that he really, really didn’t have the faintest clue what he was doing. It wasn’t that he was afraid to make a fool of himself, more that he didn’t want to make it bad for Prompto somehow.

“Mmm?” Prompto said, holding Noctis close and looking up at him through his long blond lashes. “You had enough?”

“No,” Noctis said emphatically. “It’s just, I dunno what you want me to do.”

He felt bad saying it, but Prompto only smiled. 

“C’mere,” he said, pulling Noctis down again. As they kissed, Prompto rolled them so that Noctis was the one on his back with Prompto lying on top of him, heavy but good. Noctis let Prompto gently part his lips with his tongue, felt it dart inside his mouth. Noctis couldn’t stop himself from gasping in surprise and pleasure. And then Prompto was using his lips, tongue, and soft nips with his teeth to kiss Noctis deeply. Sweet Six… 

Later, what Noctis would remember from this moment was snapshots and still frames. The fairy lights glittering above them. The dark-yet-not-dark of the room enfolding them. The unforgettable new sensation of Prompto’s lips tender on his, and his familiar sweet scent, the weight of him. The awkwardness as their noses collided at times and Noctis once bit Prompto’s lip too hard, which they giggled about together until the mood overtook them again. The intense nervousness giving way to wonder, pleasure, and desire. Noctis couldn’t think, only love.

Prompto shifted as they kissed, and his thigh rubbed up against Noctis’s crotch, where he was now sporting a pretty intense hard on. Noctis involuntarily moaned, but at the same time, the feeling of pure nervousness came over him again. Obviously, he was a virgin, and while he’d thought about having sex with Prompto before - he’d never seriously thought about it. Plainly put, Noctis didn’t know if he was ready for sex, although it certainly sounded appealing right about now. But he didn’t want to ruin their first kiss by going too far by accident, so it was safer to stop it before anything bad could happen.

“Prompto, don’t,” he groaned, turning his head away so Prompto would stop kissing him long enough for him to speak. 

“You okay?” Prompto said, out of breath and sounding slightly concerned as Noctis scooted his lower body out from underneath him. 

“This is a lot,” Noctis said, flushing.

“Yeah,” Prompto said, running his hands up and down Noctis’s sides and making him shiver. “I feel like I’m out of my mind and this isn’t really happening,” Prompto continued as Noctis moved one of his hands from Prompto’s waist to cup the side of his face and thumb over the freckles on his cheek. 

“We should talk,” Noctis managed to get out, even as Prompto began mouthing at the line of his jaw. 

“Later,” Prompto breathed. Noctis didn’t even bother agreeing in words as Prompto kissed him open-mouthed, and their bodies moved in time.

When later did come, it found the two of them cuddling together on the bed, both still facing the foot of the bed instead of the head. Prompto had his chocobo pillow under his head. Noctis had taken care of his hard-on in the bedroom, while Prompto had gone off to the bathroom for his. Now they were both languid and relaxed, Prompto lying on his back with Noctis cuddled up to him on his side.

“So, I guess we’re dating now,” Noctis said wryly, looking out into the darkened room. The fairy lights still shone in his peripheral vision. 

“You don’t say,” Prompto laughed. Then he was quiet for a moment, one of his hands moving in soothing circles over Noctis’s back. If he was feeling really lazy and content right now - good, because that’s how Noctis was feeling.

“Noct…” Prompto said pensively. “When did this stop being about the study and start being about… us?”

Noctis snorted. “When was this ever about the study? Because I thought it’s always been about us having our own apartment and 200 bucks a week.”

“Okay, yeah, I should’ve worded that better,” Prompto said. “I guess what I mean is, what made you decide you wanted to date me after all?”

“I figured it out on Wednesday. Was just waiting for an opening. But what about you?” Noctis asked.

Prompto’s hand stilled on Noctis’s back. “Um…” Prompto said, giving Noctis a nervous little thump with his palm. “When we first signed up for the study is when I started thinking about it. Over the summer, I realised I kinda liked you. I was gonna try and ignore it, I swear. But then, we moved in, and you were just making these eyes at me and holding the door on our date, and everything - what was I supposed to do?”

“I was not _making eyes_ ,” Noctis protested. “And you could have said something earlier.”

“Moving in with your platonic best bro to do a study on intimacy is not the best time to say you’re in love with him,” Prompto exclaimed, patting Noctis forcefully for emphasis. “Can you imagine how awkward it would’ve been to share the bed like that?”

“Okay, you have a point,” Noctis said.

“Yeah.” Prompto smiled. He returned to stroking Noctis’s back for a little while. Eventually, he said, sounding somewhat sleepy, “Okay, so about getting that PS4 with our date money.”

“No,” Noctis said, turning his face towards Prompto’s chest and smiling there as a thought occurred to him. “We have to keep going on fancy dates. I want to see all of your suits… and maybe next time, peel one off of you.”

Prompto inhaled sharply. “I am _so_ glad I bought those right now,” he groaned. “But Noct - are you sure you’re ready for, uh, suit-peeling?”

Blushing slightly, Noctis said, “Soon.”

“Oh, really?” Prompto said mischievously, giving Noctis’s shoulder a squeeze. “Then as a form of encouragement, let me tell you about next week’s suit…”

The conversation at that point devolved into another brief round of kissing. Then, the two got up to have separate showers, then returned to the bedroom to sleep. 

As Noctis lay in bed, looking up at the now-extinguished fairy lights, he couldn’t help but smile to himself. He was Prompto’s, and Prompto was his, and together they were a team. That had always been true of their relationship, but now more than ever. And what’s more, Noctis was certain he had made the right decision. This was where his heart lay. 

* * *

The next morning, Noctis woke up to find Prompto cuddling up to him with his phone in one hand. 

Memories of last night leapt to Noctis’s mind. Prompto was… his boyfriend now. 

_Amazing_.

“Hey,” Noctis said, smiling softly at Prompto. 

“Hey yourself,” Prompto said, looking up. Half expecting to get a nose nuzzle, Noctis was pleasantly surprised when Prompto kissed him on the cheek instead.

They lay in bed together for a little while longer - but not too long, because Prompto had been awake for an hour already and was starting to get bored. 

At the beginning of breakfast, Prompto grabbed the list from the fridge and held it up in front of Noctis’s face.

“I think that this list needs some additions,” Prompto said, smirking and twirling the dry erase marker in his other hand. “I was thinking sex positions.”

Inhaling in surprise, Noctis almost choked on his toast. 

“How does every horizontal surface in this apartment, and one wall in every room sound to you?” Prompto said. Sitting down across from Noctis, he put the list on the table beside his plate.

“Wait, hold up,” Noctis said after clearing his throat.

“I don’t mean ‘start now’,” Prompto said reassuringly. “It’s just, look at the list. We’ve already done pretty much everything on it. We have this apartment for another eight months. Don’t you think we need something to look forward to? Or at least, something to fill the log with? They might kick us out early if we’re not careful.”

“The log!” Noctis exclaimed, slapping himself on the forehead in annoyance as he suddenly remembered that the list was part of a study, and not just something they hung on their fridge for fun. “We both forgot to do it yesterday.”

“Did it this morning on my phone, but yeah, we forgot,” Prompto said, as Noctis pulled out his phone and opened it to the log document so that he’d remember to do it later. 

“Okay, anyway,” Noctis said, looking doubtfully at the list beside Prompto’s plate, which was now showered in toast crumbs from Prompto’s breakfast. “I don’t want a list of sex positions hanging on our fridge. What if we have guests?”

They looked at each other at the same time. 

“Shit… Gladio.”

In spite of knowing that Gladio was going to tease them eternally about getting together the very week after they had claimed they weren’t an item, both Noctis and Prompto were grinning. Yeah, they’d get teased, but Noctis also wanted everyone to know that he finally had a date, and that that date was Prompto, and that Prompto was excellent. Maybe the two of them could go on triple dates with Ignis, Coctura, Gladio, and Aranea.

“If we can’t hang the new list on the fridge, maybe we can just keep it on our phones. Or in our room,” Prompto suggested.

Leaning back and folding his arms, Noctis looked at Prompto across the table as he threw back some orange juice and then raised an eyebrow at Noctis. 

Noctis smiled. “Fine, in our room.”

“Oh, sweet,” Prompto said excitedly. “I’m gonna look up some stuff online and come up with tonnes of ideas for this. We should talk about them later.”

“Sure,” Noctis said easily. There was a high danger that after making a new list they’d never get any homework done on time again, nor arrive in time for any class, but he certainly wasn’t complaining. 

As they were cleaning up the kitchen, Prompto came up behind Noctis and wrapped his arms around his waist. Noctis leaned in to the touch, revelling in the newness of it, the flame it sparked within him. 

“Hey Noct,” Prompto said affectionately. “Is there anything I can do to make you feel more loved in this moment?”

Noctis thought about it. “I dunno. You could do my ecology homework for me-”

“What?!”

“Or maybe the laundry?” Noctis feigned innocence, barely able to keep from laughing at Prompto’s outrage.

“Noct!”

“But if you were looking for an invitation to kiss me… then, yeah. I think that’ll make me feel loved.”

He turned his head slightly, just in time to see Prompto burst into laughter. It reverberated through his body as well, so closely were they standing together.

“You little shit,” Prompto said, giving Noctis’s waist a squeeze. 

When their lips finally met, there was laughter at first, and then there were fairy lights, and then there was home. 

* * *

_Dear PROMPTO ARGENTUM and NOCTIS CAELUM,_

_Thank you for participating in our six month study on the effect of intimate routines on the development of romantic relationships. As per our ethical policy, we are obligated to report to you the full details of the design and results of the study. We placed 50 couples in single bedroom apartments: 25 self-identified friend pairs, and 25 pairs of volunteers who were complete strangers to each other. Stranger couples were required to follow all the rules that the friend pairs were required to follow, except for sharing a bed. They were also given a longer list of trust exercises._

_As part of GROUP ONE, you were part of the EXPERIMENTAL GROUP, while members of GROUP TWO were part of the CONTROL GROUP. Of the pairs in the experimental group, 37/50 subjects said that participating in the study improved their relationship with their partner, while 10/50 said that their relationship did not change, and 2/50 said that their relationship decreased in quality or stability. Of the 25 friend couples, 19 entered romantic and 1 entered sexual relationships over the course of the study. 18/19 romantic couples and 1/1 sexual partnerships lasted until the end of the study. In contrast, only 2/25 pairs of strangers entered a romantic relationship by the end of the study, while 4/25 entered a sexual relationship. 1/2 romantic and 1/4 sexual relationships among the pairs of strangers lasted until the end of the study. However, 41/50 participants said that being in the study improved their relationship with the stranger, while 6/50 said that they did not cultivate a good relationship with the stranger, and 3 participants quit and moved out before the end of the study, rendering 3/25 data sets void._

_We are currently in the process of writing a scientific paper documenting our findings, which we will make available to all participants in the study as soon as it is completed, and again when it is officially published._

Underneath the main letter was a handwritten footnote, saying:

_You completely blew our analysis out of the water by taking less than a month to get together. Talk about an outlier! It took the next fastest couple a full extra month to fall in love. We wish you luck in all your future endeavours, and humbly request an invitation to your wedding. (Just kidding.)_

_Sincerely,_  
_Crowe Altius, Nyx Ulric, and Libertus Ostrum_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Noctis seems East Asian to me, probably Japanese (I mean, just look at him), so I pretended Galahad is Japan. That's why his mom comes from there. 
> 
> I can hardly believe it, but there is _not_ a long list of links needed at the end of this chapter. 
> 
> *Wipes sweat from brow* Phew! Otsukare sama deshita to me!
> 
> Comments always welcome!!!!!!!!!


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